The Shift Nobody Wanted

Toma had worked the same closing shift at the store for three years, trading it occasionally with coworkers whenever life required it. The new scheduling system had been installed to make that kind of trading easier, not harder.

Toma sudah tiga tahun mengambil shift tutup toko yang sama, sesekali menukarnya dengan rekan kerja bila keadaan mengharuskan. Sistem penjadwalan baru dipasang agar pertukaran seperti itu lebih mudah, bukan lebih sulit.

Instead, it had started assigning shifts by an algorithm nobody fully understood, optimizing for something the company called "coverage efficiency."

Namun sistem itu justru mulai membagi shift berdasarkan algoritma yang tak sepenuhnya dipahami siapa pun, yang mengoptimalkan sesuatu yang oleh perusahaan disebut "efisiensi cakupan".

"It gave me four closes in a row this week," Toma told his manager, staring at the app's neat, color-coded calendar. "I haven't had that happen since I started here."

"Minggu ini aku dapat empat kali tutup berturut-turut," kata Toma kepada manajernya sambil menatap kalender aplikasi yang rapi dan berkode warna. "Hal itu belum pernah terjadi sejak aku mulai bekerja di sini."

"The system says it's balancing everyone's availability," his manager said, sounding almost as confused as Toma felt. "I don't actually control the assignments anymore."

"Sistemnya bilang ia menyeimbangkan ketersediaan semua orang," kata manajernya, terdengar nyaris sama bingungnya dengan Toma. "Aku sendiri sudah tidak mengatur pembagiannya lagi."

If a human had built this schedule, Toma thought, someone would have noticed a person working four closing shifts straight. The algorithm had simply optimized around the constraints it was given, and fairness hadn't been one of them.

Kalau manusia yang menyusun jadwal ini, pikir Toma, pasti ada yang menyadari seseorang bekerja empat shift tutup berturut-turut. Algoritma itu hanya mengoptimalkan sesuai batasan yang diberikan kepadanya, dan keadilan bukan salah satunya.

He tried requesting a swap through the app, but the system rejected it automatically, citing "insufficient coverage" for the shift he wanted to give away. A coworker had reportedly been told the same thing the previous month.

Ia mencoba meminta pertukaran lewat aplikasi, tetapi sistem menolaknya otomatis, dengan alasan "cakupan tidak mencukupi" untuk shift yang hendak ia lepas. Seorang rekan kerja konon mendapat jawaban yang sama bulan sebelumnya.

"Has anyone actually complained to the company directly?" Toma asked during break, looking around at the tired faces of his coworkers.

"Pernah ada yang mengeluh langsung ke perusahaan?" tanya Toma saat istirahat, memandang wajah-wajah lelah rekan-rekannya.

"I did, once," said a woman from the bakery counter. "Got a message back saying the system 'learns from patterns over time.' Didn't say what that meant."

"Aku pernah, sekali," kata seorang perempuan dari konter roti. "Dapat balasan bahwa sistemnya 'belajar dari pola seiring waktu'. Tidak dijelaskan maksudnya apa."

Toma decided to keep a written log instead, documenting exactly which shifts he'd been assigned and when he'd requested swaps that got rejected. If the algorithm wouldn't listen, maybe a manager reading actual evidence would.

Toma memutuskan membuat catatan tertulis saja, mendokumentasikan dengan tepat shift apa yang ia dapat dan kapan permintaan tukarnya ditolak. Kalau algoritma tak mau mendengar, mungkin manajer yang membaca bukti nyata akan mau.

Three weeks and one detailed log later, his manager brought the printed pages into a meeting with regional management.

Tiga minggu dan satu catatan terperinci kemudian, manajernya membawa lembaran cetakan itu ke rapat dengan manajemen regional.

"This isn't sustainable," she said, pointing to the pattern. "Someone should have caught this months ago. We need a human to review the schedule before it's finalized, every week."

"Ini tidak berkelanjutan," katanya sambil menunjuk pola tersebut. "Seharusnya sudah ada yang menyadarinya berbulan-bulan lalu. Kita butuh orang yang memeriksa jadwal sebelum diresmikan, setiap minggu."

The change wasn't instant, but within a month, a manager's approval step had been added before any schedule went live.

Perubahannya tidak instan, tetapi dalam sebulan, tahap persetujuan manajer ditambahkan sebelum jadwal mana pun diberlakukan.

"Still not perfect," Toma said. "But at least a person looks at it now, not just a number."

"Masih belum sempurna," kata Toma. "Tapi setidaknya sekarang ada orang yang memeriksanya, bukan hanya angka."