AI Isn’t The Answer To A Four-Day Work Week
People were doing four-day work weeks before AI. Here is what they did.
The UK Think tank Autonomy released recently a report that will shake the AI world. Through their own study and research they found it possible that anyone working a 40 hour work week could use the power of AI to reduce their working time down to 32 hours a week.
And with the stretch of AI and it’s applications, this benefit can extend to roughly a quarter of the entire workforce.
Otherwise, 8.8 million people.
Already we have advocates for four day work weeks entertaining the idea with Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign saying a similar study in the US was conducted.
For a lot of people they are convinced that AI is the productivity leap that we need to make the workforce more productive for less hours and the same level of pay.
They are convinced that this technology as it stands will be what we need to leap into Jetsons style of work. Where AI and productivity tools will be so powerful that we can support a family and buy a home just by working a few hours every day.
That we will live in a world where working for more than 3 hours per day means our future boss is a slave driver.
Please.
Unless the richest people in the world have a change of heart — which I doubt — then our current wealth inequality will only get worse. And it’s easy for people who see employees as a hinderance to productivity to use any convenient excuse to lay off employees and cut hours and wages.
We avoided the worst case scenario with the Writers Guild strike, where the millionaires wanted to replace writers with AI and have writers babysit an AI rather than doing the writing work. Thanks to the new arrangement the union struck with the directors, AI has limited involvement in the writing process.
Before the strike, writers were living on welfare because their pay was so terrible and unsustainable for even a simple lifestyle to support it.
What helped the writers have a better job wasn’t AI. It was being part of a union.
But even if we take the study as good news and that our future bosses aren’t exploitative assholes looking to nickel and dime us at every corner, four day work weeks were a thing long before AI became this hyped up. The examples are very narrow and hard to spot.
Mostly because the businesses that did manage to pull this off were small and medium sized businesses. I remember watching a video of one such company years ago.
This is what they did.
First, They Paid Their Employees Well
Full stop.
The employees didn’t need to unionize. They didn’t have to go on strike. The company just paid employees a living wage and then some.
While wage growth is up a bit in the US compared to the same time last year, there are still a lot of economic problems facing the country. That and the little growth in employee wages is a small drop compared to the executive pay hike of 1,209.2% over a 50 year period.
The gap between employee and the person at the top is astronomical these days when there was a time where the difference was only in the teens in terms of percentage.
And seeing someone willing to lower their own executive pay for the sake of others is an effective tactic. It’s why Dan Price was so popular when he pulled that move, despite the fact it was an act for him.
But even if it was all an act, people look at that act as something that was effective. And even if the true reason was for something else entirely, we know it’s effective.
If you pay people enough that they can take care of themselves, it’s a lot easier for those same people to focus on other more pressing issues. After all, we all know generally it’s hard to work or focus if:
- You are under a massive amount of debt and you need this job — and others jobs — in order to live.
- You can’t afford to eat properly because grocery stores have hiked their prices and your only alternative is quick processed food that makes you feel bad.
The list goes on and on, but when you have enough money to cover your basic needs, there isn’t as much pressure on you compared to not being able to survive. You still have money problems, but the problems aren’t as dire.
And there is a big difference between those things.
Second, They Treated Everyone Fairly
A job is more than just the money of course and for a lot of us, our reason to go to work extends beyond the possible pay that we get. Some of us enjoy the work itself. Others like the coworkers or just the company culture.
People are able to express themselves wholly there and that can make a big difference.
I don’t remember the company I saw in that video, but I do remember the people there were pretty tight knit. Obviously I can’t expect the group to be rainbows and sunshine all of the time. There will always be conflict.
But based on that dynamic, I can imagine problems were dealt in a healthy manner.
At the end of the day employees weren’t just being looked after, but they also felt heard and valued. This is key especially in a time now where companies are gradually rolling out self-care practices.
Yoga, on-site day cares for parents, meditative retreats, paid vacation time.
These things do help, but they are undercut by the same sort of issue as company dental and health plans. If an employee gets fired for whatever reason, they are set back way more than ever before.
Obviously in today’s society if someone did a truly bad thing that they know was bad, then that is warranted. But in a society where we have AI as an excuse to lay off people and late stage capitalism being the way it is now this does more harm than good.
In order for AI to be of any benefit to people and for good companies to grow to become four day work week places, looking after employees and caring for them is essential. The reason being is simple.
Finally, The Employees Took Care Of The Business They Love
What the company did was simple. They created a positive feedback loop that allowed their company to grow.
I still remember that Richard Branson quote “If you look after your employees, your employees will look after your business.” and there is truth behind that.
Even if he’s a billionaire that is still contributing to more climate change issues on Earth, he does have a point in this.
If you ensure problems in employees personal and work life are addressed then you’re able to share a deeper connection with someone. Just as you invest time in a relationship, people will generally pay you back in some way shape or form.
It’s how we’ve worked from the very beginning. It’s how camaraderie is formed. I scratch your back as long as you scratch mine.
The same is true for business and it’s something that plenty of small businesses understand. The only issue is we rarely see it because they’re either stomped out by bigger corporations or the fact we pay attention to bigger name brands and people than your every day business owner.
They create a loop where employees behaviour is predictable because of ones generosity.
If you’re looking after a person, it’s much harder to look after someone if they take advantage of that good nature and aren’t contributing back. In that kind of relationship, if you don’t offer to help both sides lose since they will no longer be offering benefits.
All in all the onus doesn’t just extend to the business owner, but to everyone that company hires.
And it’s that generosity that makes working with such a business so fulfilling even for people outside. Dan Price talked a lot about the influx of resumes he got on a regular basis from people wanting to work for Gravity Payments. Beyond that, being the $70K executive received a lot of publicity which brought in more business, bolstering its profits too.
Those things were indeed real.
Of course, this particular loop requires a great deal of trust and faith that people will work to pay back for the generosity. This can fall apart if people aren’t invested in making the business grow with their work and output.
But cases of cruelty in humanity are few and far between. We just see them more these days because it’s easier to highlight those things rather than the good. It’s easier to point to a billionaire being a jerk rather than someone doing something really good for humanity via entrepreneurship.
When you are being helpful and helping the people who are working under you, then they will work hard to ensure that you can continue to help them with their own goals as well as ensure you can fulfil yours. It creates a powerful connection that extends beyond the give-and-take relationship that businesses establish with their employees. And leaning into that is a more effective method than using AI to reduce working hours.
You can already reduce working hours by being a decent human business owner.
Enjoyed the article? Please consider offering your support!
👉 Subscribe to my email list here and receive emails whenever I publish on Medium!