There’s a lot to be said about how artificial intelligence is reshaping the workplace, but could AI reward us with a shorter workweek? According to Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, it is a distinct possibility. The future is set to be powered by AI, and there are a considerable number of opinions floating around on just how much the workplace might change as a result.
Some reports echo the idea of workers being replaced by AI. Others take the caution route, hinting that AI tools will not prove to be as transformative as tech giants will have you believe. While workers have largely been alarmed by the arrival of AI, the possibility of a shorter workweek does hold some appeal.
The adoption of AI could lead us to shorter workweeks in the coming years, with some of the burden of labor falling to emerging tech tools. (Image: Freepik)
Could AI Help with Shorter Workweeks? Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Thinks It Could
The term artificial intelligence is sufficient to evoke a complex rush of feelings and emotions in any employee in 2025. This dizzying concoction of both positive and negative feelings is unavoidable, given the time we are living in and the myriad ways that AI is reshaping our present and future. While many CEOs have painted a bleak future about the AI-powered productivity shift, Yuan’s prediction of AI allowing for shorter workweeks is a more heartening one.
“I feel like if A.I. can make all of our lives better, why do we need to work for five days a week?” Yuan told The New York Times recently. “Every company will support three days, four days a week. I think this ultimately frees up everyone’s time.” Yuan isn’t the only one who believes in this future of shorter workweeks via AI.
The Calls for Shorter Workweeks Continue to Echo Through Workplaces
Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates also spoke of a future with lesser burdens on employees to do the work, allowing for AI to speed up the process instead. “What will jobs be like? Should we just work like 2 or 3 days a week?” Gates said on The Tonight Show earlier this year. “If you zoom out, the purpose of life is not just to do jobs.” Similarly, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also claimed that AI could bring about a four-day workweek eventually.
Multiple pilot projects on the viability of a shorter workweek have been conducted across the globe with great success. Many businesses that have participated in these projects have reportedly decided to continue with these systems, but for the most part, we haven’t yet witnessed a shift away from the traditional workweek.
There is a distinct possibility that AI could be the final push businesses need to bring about shorter workweeks, but there is a greater chance of more workers being forced into permanent vacation once they are pushed out of the workforce.
The Arrival Of AI on the Scene Has Resulted In Many Highs and Lows
Many tech CEOs have painted an idyllic future with their vision for AI, but for the most part, this future has involved success for the tech companies producing AI and those utilizing it as a replacement for workers. From infusing every app with burdensome AI tools to throwing in an AI chatbot wherever possible, we’ve already witnessed the technology take over many spaces with abandon, and the workplace is no different.
For workers, the main concern has always been the arrival of AI tools that are designed to replace them. These employees are not opposed to smart tools to simplify the tedious part of their jobs. But the idea that this technology could eventually make them redundant and push them out of the workforce has been weighing heavily on them. Yuan acknowledged this threat as well.
“Whenever there’s a technology paradigm shift, some job opportunities are gone, but it will create some new opportunities. For some jobs, like entry-level engineers, we can use A.I. to write code,” Yuan stated. “However, you still need to manage that code. You also create a lot of digital agents, and you need someone to manage those agents.”
There is data to suggest that AI will transform all jobs one way or another, but many reports have also indicated that employees won’t be replaced entirely for the next few years at least.
The Future of Work Is AI, but There Is Room for Harmony Between Tech and Labor
In an ideal scenario, AI tools will serve as support for workers to perform their jobs with greater ease, eliminating some of their menial tasks to help them focus on the creative side of things. AI technology has many strengths to offer, and there are innumerable ways in which it could improve the on-the-job experience of workers.
If organizations can decipher ways to optimize this technology while also capitalizing on human potential, there is considerable harmony waiting on the other side of such a deal. Employees will be grateful to AI for shorter workweeks, and businesses will continue to thrive with the combined forces of human labor and AI. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
It may perhaps be too early for such conversations, as we are still coming to terms with the arrival of AI and its capacity to revolutionize how we work. Still, it helps to prepare for a harmonious future and encourages workers to see this emerging technology as a positive development rather than one to be feared.
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