“‘I happen to believe that as a nation, we should begin a serious discussion — and the UAW is doing that — about substantially lowering the workweek.’”
Artificial intelligence will help folks lower by time-consuming, labor-intensive work, and it’s poised to revolutionize the numerous methods folks go about their jobs — if used properly, that’s.
Nearly 13,000 United Auto Workers members walked off the job late final week, and considered one of their calls for is a 32-hour workweek for 40 hours of pay. If carmakers conform to the concept, it will launch the four-day workweek idea from its “early adoption” second to office mainstream, consultants say.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an unbiased from Vermont, additionally made the connection between AI, a four-day workweek and the UAW strike towards Ford
F,
General Motors
GM,
and Stellantis
STLA,
after showing at a rally in Detroit, Mich.
Benefits of a shorter workweek
Sanders — who spoke Friday at a UAW rally — instructed Jake Tapper on Mahaz News’s State of the Union on Sunday that the concept of a shortened workweek isn’t tied to at least one labor dispute. There’s an “explosion” of robotics and AI that may enhance employee productiveness, he mentioned.
“The question, as a nation, that we have got to ask ourselves is, who’s going to benefit from that increased productivity?” Sanders requested.
Instead of company leaders reaping the income, Sanders mentioned, “it seems to me that if new technology is going to make us a more productive society, the benefit should go to the workers.”
He mentioned that in a time when individuals are “stressed out for a dozen different reasons, it would be an extraordinary thing to see people have more time” for themselves, their households or to pursue a greater schooling.
There are many individuals who would agree {that a} four-day workweek could be a rare profit, polls counsel. Eight in 10 folks help a four-day workweek as an alternative of a five-day week, in accordance with a Bankrate survey launched in August.
Workers fear in regards to the affect of AI
Of course, as with different revolutions, there’s additionally the concern that issues could not go as hoped.
In a worst-case situation, many individuals fear that if the rise of AI expertise renders their place out of date, they are going to find yourself with a zero-day workweek.
Almost half — 49% — of 31,000 folks polled in 31 nations mentioned they fear AI may change their jobs, in accordance with a separate Microsoft
MSFT,
survey from May.
The similar survey highlights the combo of pleasure and apprehension over what AI may imply for folks.
More than two-thirds of individuals say they don’t have ample time to focus through the workday, and 70% mentioned they’d need to offload as a lot work as they might to AI-powered strategies so as to lighten their job duties.
Auto employees desire a shorter workweek
A UAW win on a 32-hour workweek would even be a giant win for the broader four-day week idea, mentioned Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, director at Four Day Week Global, the place he helps employers think about learn how to implement the concept.
One of the explanations is that “it would re-establish the idea that the benefits of automation and technological innovation should be shared with workers in the form of living wages and more free time, not just converted into higher stock dividends and CEO bonuses,” he mentioned.
“The idea that we should use innovation to make work better, rather than use it to destroy jobs and thus communities, family stability [and] faith in the American system, would be a huge turnaround in our thinking,” he mentioned.
It stays to be seen whether or not the four-day workweek will acquire traction within the present labor talks. A Stellantis spokeswoman beforehand instructed MarketWatch that the corporate must incur main additional prices to maintain up manufacturing schedules if employees moved to a curtailed work schedule.
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
