The Price of Bad Schedules: How Unpredictable Work Hours Undermine Georgia’s Economy and Human Capital

In the Winter 2025 issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review, the article “The High Costs of Bad Schedules” argues that poorly designed work schedules cost companies as much as bad strategies — they harm employees’ health, lower productivity, and gradually erode organizational culture. The authors stress that a company unable to manage the quality of working time loses not only its people but also its innovative and competitive potential. “A bad schedule is not merely a question of logistics,” they write, “it affects mental health, team coordination, and overall economic performance.”

Georgia’s labor reality reflects this argument vividly. Although the Labor Code formally limits the workweek to 40 hours, in practice this rule is often ignored. According to Georgia’s Labor Inspection Office, nearly one in five recorded labor violations involves excessive or irregular working hours. The most severe conditions are found in the mining sector, where workers in Chiatura and Zestaponi have spent 12-hour shifts for 15 consecutive days with only two days of rest. As reports from Eurasianet and Civil Georgia show, the major cause of the 2024 strikes was not only low pay but also the demand for a “humane work cycle.” Workers described physical exhaustion, safety risks, and emotional burnout resulting from these relentless rotations.

The digital economy tells a similar story. Platform workers such as Wolt and Bolt couriers are formally “free” to choose their schedules, yet in reality algorithmic management pressures them to work constantly. According to the Fairwork Georgia Report 2023, more than 70% of couriers in Tbilisi work over 55 hours a week, exceeding national standards. Interviews published by JAMnews reveal that even after 10–12-hour days, income often barely meets subsistence levels, while sick days or time off result in lost earnings. As one courier said, “If you skip a day, the algorithm gives you fewer orders — rest is a luxury.”

The tourism and service sectors face equally unpredictable schedules. Seasonal peaks and sudden workloads mean employees are routinely required to take unpaid overtime or unplanned shifts. Many hotel and restaurant workers say that annual leave is only theoretical — they fear time off could be seen as a lack of commitment. Labor inspectors report that the most common violation in hospitality is exceeding legal work hours or scheduling shifts without sufficient rest.

Across the South Caucasus, the pattern is the same. In Armenia, a 2024 parliamentary initiative proposed shorter workweeks, yet labor unions note that many industrial workers still clock 55–60 hours. Azerbaijan also maintains a 40-hour legal limit, but in mining and oil sectors extended shifts remain the norm. The European Union’s Working Time Directive caps the workweek at 48 hours and guarantees at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest, a standard Georgia’s law approximates on paper but rarely enforces in practice.

BTUAI’s research confirms that poor scheduling is not just a social issue — it is an economic one. Overworked employees are 20–25% less productive and more prone to mistakes, directly affecting company performance. Staff turnover is significantly higher in organizations with unpredictable scheduling, increasing recruitment and training costs.

Bad scheduling also deepens gender inequality. Irregular shifts and evening hours disproportionately affect women, who still perform the majority of unpaid care work. This reduces their access to stable employment and limits their career advancement, creating a structural imbalance in the labor market whose roots lie in unequal time allocation.

As the MIT article highlights, “A good schedule is an investment in human capital.” This idea is slowly gaining ground in Georgia, where companies are beginning to experiment with digital shift management, flexible work policies, and improved time-tracking systems. Yet systemic change will require coordination between government, businesses, and academia — a shared recognition that working time is not merely a production input but a pillar of social well-being.

Ultimately, the quality of work schedules has become one of the most reliable indicators of Georgia’s economic resilience. Fair, flexible, and predictable working hours create motivated people, innovative companies, and a healthier society — one where time is no longer a symbol of exhaustion, but a foundation for progress and well-being.

This article is based on the MIT Sloan Management Review piece “The High Costs of Bad Schedules” and on BTUAI’s research examining the social, technological, and economic implications of work-time management in Georgia and the wider South Caucasus region.