As artificial intelligence takes on more work tasks, some companies are beginning to return more personal time to their employees.
Roger Kirkness founded Convexicen in January of this year, specializing in providing goal-tracking services for remote and hybrid work companies. The team subsequently began outsourcing numerous time-consuming tasks to artificial intelligence, leading to a substantial increase in work efficiency. At that time, employees across the United States and Canada were experiencing burnout from the need to make faster and more numerous decisions, prompting the company to implement a four-day workweek, allowing employees to tangibly benefit from the dividends of automation. "I was surprised that we could accomplish the same amount of work with reduced hours," said Kirkness, who works remotely from Waterloo, Canada. "And everyone's sense of well-being has improved so much." While a growing number of US employers are now mandating a five-day in-office workweek, some companies state that AI is saving them significant time, enabling them to adopt or maintain a four-day schedule. Multiple business executives and researchers predict that as employees, particularly younger generations, continue to prioritize work-life balance, more companies will transition to shorter work schedules in the future. Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College who has long studied this topic, stated, "Artificial intelligence has immense potential for saving labor costs, and companies will gradually transition to a four-day workweek. There is a broad societal consensus that today's workforce is exhausted and overstressed." The workplace application of AI is still in its early stages, but the latest survey data indicates its usage is steadily rising. A recent Gallup poll showed that in the third quarter of this year, approximately 45% of US workers reported using AI at work at least a few times a year, an increase of 5 percentage points from the previous quarter; however, only 10% of employees use AI daily, up 2 percentage points year-on-year. Several companies, especially those operating primarily remotely, have adjusted their work rhythms after delegating substantial work to AI. Kirkness explained that Convexicen employees use AI to assist with programming, writing marketing copy, and breaking down project tasks, with their focus shifting towards task coordination and allocation. The company's product engineer, Prentice Biekseth, said that he and his colleagues primarily use Anthropic's programming assistant Claude Code, along with AI features integrated into their proprietary software, to handle work related to meetings, emails, and documents. He said the application of AI pushes everyone towards more creative work. "Everyone reaches a point where they're racking their brains and getting nowhere, feeling completely drained," he said, noting that taking a break often leads to new breakthroughs. "The extra day off makes these moments of inspiration occur more frequently." Taylor Rosenbauer, founder and CEO of the New York-based design and strategy consulting firm Rocket Air, stated that the company's proprietary AI tool helps strategists and designers sift through vast amounts of client data to create new digital products for brands. The company has operated on a four-day workweek for three years, with employees working in two-week sprints to complete work intensively against tight deadlines. "The market constantly demands that we deliver maximum value," Rosenbauer said, adding that AI helps the company achieve its goals within a shorter workweek. Schor pointed out that small and medium-sized enterprises often adopt shorter work schedules to compensate for their inability to compete on high salaries when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent. Peak HR Outsourcing, headquartered in London, which provides global team building services for various businesses, developed its strategy precisely for this reason. During the pandemic, Peak HR Outsourcing's industry experienced explosive growth. Consequently, in February 2023, the company introduced an "Ultra-Flexible Friday" policy, allowing its 20-person team to schedule their Fridays autonomously; this policy later evolved into a full four-day workweek. CEO Alex Vox stated that after the policy change, job postings that previously attracted only two resumes now receive up to 350 applications. Simultaneously, the company uses AI to handle repetitive tasks like invoice generation and document creation, and to assist the sales team with data analysis and lead generation. Vox noted that while shortening the workweek and adopting AI were separate initiatives, in practice they complement each other exceptionally well. "Automation-driven efficiency, increased employee engagement, and enhanced professional fulfillment create a perfect alignment," Vox said, adding that employees use their free time to engage more in community activities and artistic pursuits, finding value in life beyond work. Implementing this model is more challenging for law firms, where lawyers may worry about reduced billable hours. However, management at Ross Law, a firm in Ontario, Canada, stated they had no choice but to change—during the pandemic, 48 out of the firm's 50 employees and lawyers were women juggling family care, further education, and household chores. Quinn Ross, the firm's managing partner, said that in April 2020, the firm began a rotational work arrangement allowing staff to carve out time for family responsibilities without a pay cut. This led to a surge in both productivity and employee satisfaction, prompting the firm to formally adopt an eight-hour day, four-day week in June 2020. The firm had already used early AI tools to automate document and email management, and the application of generative AI now allows staff to conduct research faster using ChatGPT Pro, while also automating processes like tracking billable hours, summarizing calls, and planning client follow-ups. "You have to think of it as a new associate with an enormous vocabulary and super-fast turnaround," Ross said. "The tool won't teach you; you must know what you're doing to use it effectively." However, implementing a four-day workweek comes with challenges. Business managers say the primary difficulty is providing AI training—ensuring data confidentiality while guarding against potential AI errors. Employees sometimes struggle to adapt to this transition, and frequent updates to AI models require companies to continually adjust their operational strategies. Despite this, large corporations are beginning to take note of this trend. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said last month at a business forum that AI has the potential to shorten the workweek to three and a half days over the next 20, 30, or even 40 years. He also suggested that companies like his, which require five days in the office, might need to retrain staff, redeploy roles, and offer early retirement packages. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates suggested this year that the arrival of a shorter workweek might come even sooner. Appearing on *The Tonight Show*, he said, "In the next ten years, AI will make intellectual services free and ubiquitous. What will work look like then? Will we only need to work two or three days a week?" Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom Video Communications, predicts that in the future, employees will have their own "digital twins"—AI avatars that can collaborate, handle emails, synthesize information, and even attend meetings the employee cannot. He stated the goal is to achieve a three or four-day workweek within five years. Zoom currently operates a hybrid work policy requiring employees to be in the office several days a week. Joe O'Connor, CEO and co-founder of the Toronto-based research firm Work Time Revolution, said the current economic climate might cause some companies to pause on adopting a four-day week, but this will change in the coming years. He stated that after using AI to save time, companies will face a choice: "Maintain the same output and reduce costs, or invest in the workforce to create greater value." Ironically, these companies adopting the four-day workweek say AI is helping them create a more humane workplace. Ross Law has made it clear they will never revert to a five-day week. Said Ross, "It's a 'golden handcuff' we're happy to wear."
