As generative artificial intelligence (AI) spreads across industries, two trends are rising at the same time: "job reductions" and "shorter working hours." In particular, as global Big Tech chiefs have successively said that "AI could make a four-day workweek, and even a three-day workweek, possible," analysts say this is not just a technological shift but a phase in which the labor structure itself is being reorganized.
According to the industry on the 7th, leading corporations and policy institutions driving the AI sector recently have commonly emphasized that gains in AI-driven productivity can translate into shorter working hours. This suggests a fundamental change not just in improved work efficiency, but in the very "way we work."
OpenAI, which has led the generative AI market, released a policy report that officially proposes a pilot for a "four-day (32-hour) workweek without pay cuts." The logic is that productivity gains from AI should be returned in the form of reduced working hours. Along with this, it also presented new distribution mechanisms for the AI era, such as a robot tax and public funds, drawing attention to how technology corporations are extending their influence into the design of labor policy.
Before this, comments by major global Big Tech CEOs pointed in the same direction. Eric Yuan, Zoom chief executive officer (CEO), said in a New York Times interview last year, "If AI makes life better, why should we work five days a week?" and argued, "All corporations will support three- to four-day work." The head of a collaboration-tool corporation directly mentioned "shortening the number of workdays."
Jensen Huang, the Nvidia CEO, offered a similar outlook. Huang noted, "The AI revolution accompanies changes in the social structure, and a four-day workweek is highly likely." Yet Huang added, "As productivity rises, new work may emerge and people could actually get busier," pointing out the gap between optimism and reality.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft (MS) founder, went a step further, saying, "Within 10 years, a two- to three-day workweek will be possible," while Elon Musk said, "Within 10 to 20 years, work itself will be optional," sketching a future close to the "end of labor." In this way, leading tech industry figures commonly view reduced working hours as an inevitable trend on the premise that AI will replace or shrink human labor.
Change has also begun at corporations in the field. Some tech startups have introduced a four-day workweek through AI automation and reported maintaining or even raising productivity. U.S. software startup Convictional disclosed last year that after introducing AI-based task automation, it implemented a 32-hour workweek while maintaining employee pay and keeping productivity at previous levels. Canadian law firm The Ross Firm is also known to be maintaining a four-day workweek by using Generative AI for document drafting and research. According to McKinsey, Generative AI has replaced repetitive tasks such as meeting scheduling, document writing, and data analysis, saving more than an average of 10 hours per employee per week.
These shifts are affecting the structure of the labor market as well. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Work Time Reduction, a research institute on shorter working hours, found that about 29% of corporations operating a four-day workweek have actively adopted AI. By contrast, AI utilization is relatively lower at five-day corporations, showing a concurrent restructuring of productivity and work practices.
However, it is uncertain whether these changes will move solely in a direction favorable to workers. There are concerns that, rather than reducing working hours, AI could function in ways that demand more output in the same time or reduce headcount. In fact, at some corporations, workloads have intensified after AI adoption, or pressure to cut staff has increased.
On the 6th (local time), management consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C) said U.S. IT industry layoffs in the first quarter this year totaled 52,050. That is about a 40% increase from a year earlier and the largest since 2023. In particular, cases citing AI as the reason for layoffs numbered 15,341, accounting for about 25% of the total. Considering that as recently as February this year the share of AI-related layoffs was around 10%, the figure more than doubled in just over a month.
Debate is also ramping up in Korea. At a recent meeting between the government and labor groups, the introduction of a four-day workweek and the extension of the retirement age were discussed together, bringing the need for a shift in labor policy in the AI era to the fore. In particular, a key task is reaching social consensus on how to reflect productivity gains in wages and working hours.
Ultimately, the future of work that AI will bring is less about "technology" than about "choice." Whether to channel productivity gains into shorter working hours or focus on expanding corporate profits will differ by each country's policies and corporate strategies. As AI adoption spreads, debates over balancing shorter working hours with employment stability are expected to intensify.