With enterprises worldwide ramping up AI adoption rates, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan thinks the technology will ultimately pave the way for millions of workers to shift to reduced working hours.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Yuan said the use of AI will streamline workflows, essentially freeing up staff from carrying out mundane tasks.
“I feel like if AI can make all of our lives better, why do we need to work for five days a week?” Yuan told the publication. “Every company will support three days, four days a week.”
“I think this ultimately frees up everyone’s time,” he added.
Yuan’s comments mark the latest in a string of predictions by big tech execs on the potential for AI to deliver a three or four-day working week.
Yuan’s comments mark the latest in a string of predictions by big tech execs on the potential for AI to deliver a three or four-day working week.
In an August 2023 appearance on Trevor Noah’s What Now? podcast, Bill Gates hinted that AI-related efficiency gains could “eventually get a society where you only have to work three days a week”.
More recently, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also touted the potential for a four-day week through AI in an interview with Fox Business.
“I fully expect GDP to grow. I expect productivity to increase. I actually expect us to have more things to do,” he told host Liz Claman.
“I’m hopeful for that day too, so that we have four-day work weeks… so that we could spend more time on the weekends with family and get some reading done, and do some travelling. Nothing is better than that.”
A four-day week is the holy grail of work-life balance
Calls for a four-day week have been gathering momentum in recent years, with a host of pilot schemes showing the practice offers marked benefits for workers.
With AI adoption rates continuing at pace globally, similar research has suggested the technology could help to reduce working hours. Analysis from Autonomy last year, for example, claimed the use of AI tools could cut the equivalent of a whole working day for over 8 million workers across the UK.
The study also found AI could unlock an average 10% reduction in working hours for an additional 27.9 million UK employees by the end of the decade.
Autonomy noted this 10% reduction would equate to working hours being cut for around 88% of the current UK workforce.
A catch-22 for workers
While comments from Yuan and industry counterparts will likely be welcomed by workers, the situation isn’t quite so positive. Indeed, the Zoom CEO noted that while those currently in work may benefit from the technology, long-term labor market shifts as a result of AI adoption could impact entry-level workers.
“Whenever there’s a technology paradigm shift, some job opportunities are gone, but it will create some new opportunities,” he said. “For some jobs, like entry-level engineers, we can use AI to write code.”
“However, you still need to manage that code. You also create a lot of digital agents, and you need someone to manage those agents.”
Notably, Huang’s positive outlook on future working setups was tempered by the fact he believes AI will actually make workers busier in the future despite the so-called efficiency gains unlocked by the technology.
Yuan isn’t the first big tech executive to raise concerns about the impact of AI on entry-level workers in recent months.
Earlier this year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that the technology would eliminate up to half of all entry-level, white-collar roles in years to come.
A study from Stanford University in August suggested AI is already starting to have a negative impact, with those entering the workforce facing an increasingly challenging jobs market.
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