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The 40-hour work week has been standard from as long as I can remember, but lately as I join the AI age, I am starting to think how sustainable the 40- hour work week is going to be. The term- you either do 30 mins of work in 8 hours or 8 hours of work in 30 mins is starting to ring true. The very rapid rise (AI) is beginning to challenge whether the structure remains necessary or efficient in today’s workplace. AI tools automate routine tasks and enhance decision-making, the feasibility of maintaining a traditional 40-hour work week is increasingly being questioned.
Most AI users now use AI to draft emails, advise around the sentiments and delivery of emails, analyse data, generate reports, and handle repetitive administrative tasks which can significantly reduce the time required to complete everyday work. This means that employees could achieve the same output in fewer hours, which will in turn lead to shorter work weeks—such as four-day schedules—not only possible but practical.
As always there is another side to this amazing new world. More free time leads to more tasks added to your workload, and then you will be expected to respond faster and invest more in research.
The double-edged sword then becomes that where technological advancements increase efficiency, they do not necessarily translate into reduced labour time. Businesses are typically incentivised to use productivity gains to scale operations, improve output, and remain competitive, rather than to reduce employee hours. Also, raise your hand if you want to be the one to champion the change and sit through hours of changing age -old policy and systems that have been in place and functioning without issue.
AI has been great in my environment “corporate”, but we need to consider our colleagues who have more physical roles and most of their work consists of manual labour. There would be a stumbling block in instituting a change like a 40-hour work week as it is not inclusive at all.
Overall, I cannot sit here and say without a doubt I think that a 40-hour work week would not be feasible in the Age of AI. I can however say that it has made it easier to work smarter and not harder. The change for me has not been what is produced but how it is produced. And all I can hope is that I grow as rapidly as Artificial Intelligence is growing so that ultimately whether we have a 40-hour work week or not I still get to do what I love.