Sri Lanka has cut the public sector work week to four days not for productivity or happiness but for survival as the country continues to deal with an economic crisis.

Sri Lanka’s Department of Government Information says public servants will be given Friday’s off for the next three months. However, this excludes essential workers at hospitals, ports and those in the power and water sectors. According to the government workers will use the day off to grow and tend to their crops in order to address the food shortage.

Another drastic measure is encouraging Sri Lankans to find work abroad and send money home.

The government says public sector workers will be granted leave without pay of up to five years without prejudice if they decide to go this route.

Sri Lanka is struggling with its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Its economy has taken a severe beating due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the skyrocketing energy prices, and populist tax cuts. In April, Colombo announced it was defaulting on its foreign debt of $51-billion.