The 8-5 work day is a con that is hiding in plain sight

Blue Star Recycling, in Colorado Springs has an interesting employment policy. Majority of their staff is autistic. But they don’t hire them out of pity. It turns out, the company has some of the highest ratings in the United States, for Task-to-Time focus ratio.

Basically, given the varied range of social integration and interaction that autistic people have, when they find a task that fits perfectly within their interest, they don’t get distracted by the world around them. They aren’t too busy texting or walking around the office to gossip. They aren’t interested in small talk, or whatever conversation you might have about last night’s game, the latest scandal or what’s trending. They aren’t even scheming to take someone else’s job. They just focus on the task until they are done. So, you get what you pay for, which is great especially in economies where one is paid per hour.

The hotel where I sometimes go to watch football employs about 5 guards to man its entrance. Like all sentries, their beat is to make security checks and admit only those deemed to have fulfilled the minimum. They don’t always do that. Sometimes, they will simply ask if you have a weapon and if you say no or joke about how they guessed right, they will simply wave you on.

Other times, they won’t even ask. They will just lift the barriers and wave you in. If you are a regular whose face and car they recognize, they will even wave and salute. If you come in on foot, unless you are carrying a large backpack and looking like you don’t belong, you will walk straight into the venue.

But there is an exception. Once in a while, you will come and go through a strange frisking. They will even have torches flashed under your car seats. Your familiar greetings will be responded to with curt nodding, the usual camaraderie thrown out of the window.

When that happens, it is usually because their supervisor is in the vicinity. Suddenly, the lax attitude disappears and is replaced by a single-minded focus on accomplishing the task at hand.

Many times, it is because they can’t be bothered to get up and away from whatever TikTok video they are watching or showing each other. It used to be Facebook – before it was blocked – by petty Uganda government officials who turned shame into fury. This scene has variations in almost every workplace, depending on context.

It might be the receptionist scrolling through her Instagram and Pinterest for the next dress; a government official in the middle of a WhatsApp group argument over whether Ten Hag should get sacked or perhaps watching porn on company time and internet; or a Programmes person scrolling the Twitter (I know it is now called X but I refuse to move on) feed and getting triggered by whatever the day’s usually-empty topic is.

A deeper look at Uganda’s education-employment data reveals an interesting insight that is easy to miss because of all the noise. Unemployment, even if almost everyone complains about it, is not the major problem for most educated Ugandans. Underemployment is. In essence, there are more Ugandans who earn less than they should, working at jobs beneath their qualifications, and doing a lot less than is required – because there isn’t much for them to do.

That explains why your average Ugandan has a side business. It doesn’t matter what their job is or the level of responsibility they have. A supposed-to-be busy senior army officer or government official will still find time to run a bar, petrol station or farm. Sometimes, they will be doing all three and finding time to service three side chics.

The Human Resource Manager will, between haranguing colleagues for not showing up on time even on a rainy Kampala morning, sell handbags and shoes on Instagram while also running a catering or décor business on the weekend.

And because they aren’t giving full attention to any of these ventures, they never really take off. If I had to guess, I would say that the average Ugandan formal employee puts in about an hour, two at most, of combined productive labour per day. Which makes a mockery of the 8-5; but also begs the question of how we can get the best out of ourselves – because imagine what we would achieve with an extra hour!

Mr Rukwengye is the founder, Boundless Minds. 
@Rukwengye