4-day onsite workweek in BARMM offices lifted
By Saghir Hussain ·
The four-day workweek experiment in the Bangsamoro region just got binned — and if you think that's just a Philippines story, you're not paying attention.
Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua lifted the arrangement this week, citing "operational requirements." Translation: the work didn't shrink to fit the schedule. Sound familiar? It should. British councils, NHS trusts, and a clutch of well-meaning SMEs have all tried the same thing. Most are quietly rowing back.
The retraining fairy doesn't exist
Here's the uncomfortable bit nobody in Westminster wants to say out loud: automation is eating tasks faster than Skills Bootcamps can teach people new ones.
I've spoken to warehouse managers in Wakefield, care home operators in Swansea, and a logistics firm in Inverness. Same story. The software arrives on Monday. The "upskilling" funding lands — if it lands — eighteen months later. By then, the job's gone or changed beyond recognition.
The BARMM offices didn't fail because staff were lazy. They failed because the workload is sticky. Citizens still need permits processed, benefits checked, disputes resolved. AI can draft the letter. It can't calm the angry applicant at the counter.
UK politicians are selling a fantasy
Labour's "New Deal for Working People" talks a good game on flexibility. The Tories before them loved a four-day pilot press release. Neither side has a credible answer for the 4.2 million UK workers in roles the ONS classifies as "high automation risk" — shop assistants, admin staff, transport operatives.
Retraining? The Lifetime Skills Guarantee covers a fraction of them. Apprenticeships? Over-25s get crumbs. And try telling a 54-year-old fork-lift driver in Middlesbrough to "learn Python" with a straight face.
Meanwhile, Asda's Leeds HQ gets evacuated over a suspicious package — a reminder that physical workplaces still have physical risks. The Pump House in Cardiff Bay gets converted to offices because developers know: some work needs a building.
The honest middle ground
We don't need utopian four-day weeks. We don't need dystopian "AI replaces everyone" headlines.
We need: portable benefits so a care worker moving between agencies doesn't lose sick pay. Modular, bite-sized training that fits around shifts — not three-year degrees. And an honest conversation about which jobs are going to shrink, so communities can plan instead of panic.
The BARMM chiefs admitted the experiment didn't work. When will a UK minister do the same?
What's the last "retraining" course you saw that actually led to a better job — not just a certificate?