Much like technology is advancing quicker than we can keep track of, it seems our working weeks are evolving before our very eyes. The typical 9-to-5 has served us well since Henry Ford implemented it into his factories in 1926, but like all good things, it has to come to an end one day.
Amid fears that artificial intelligence could be coming for our jobs and some positions could be obsolete in the next two years, there are questions about whether the working week will also have to change.
As more and more companies trial four-day working weeks and claim there are benefits a year on, Bill Gates has taken things one step further and suggested a two-day working week is the way forward.
Even though there are worries about the 'realistic' timeline of when AI could take over, it's given its own thoughts on when a four-day working week could catch on.
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Elon Musk has been boasting about his DOGE employees working 120 hours a week, whereas Silicon Valley has apparently seen a rise in the number of people willing to take on China's gruelling 996 schedule.
According to ChatGPT, the five-day working week is already "eroding at the edges," nothing how there are numerous companies that have adopted the idea. There will be an apparent gradual shift to a four-day working week that's shaped by economic, cultural, and technological factors.
In terms of the big date when the traditional five-day working week will be a thing of the past, you might have to hold on a bit longer. ChatGPT suggests that a four-day week will be the norm in 2040, although the current model won't be at a complete end.
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The reason things might stay the same in some sectors is because the likes of healthcare, retail, and logistics need on-site or shift-based staff. Others, including tech and media, are already dabbling in four-day weeks, but ultimately, culture and laws make Scandinavian countries more likely to take it on than the USA or parts of Asia.
The United Kingdom, Iceland, and Spain are said to have run successful trials without a drop in productivity, while Gen Z is behind the push for a more flexible working week.
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There hasn't been a universal standard just yet, and according to AI, the corporate industries of finance and law will likely never move away from five-day workweeks due to the pressures associated.
Even if the tech world might find it easier to move to four days as more processes become automated, AI suspects education and the government could potentially move to a 4.5-day working week, while retail will likely remain put due to the above points we've already highlighted.
ChatGPT's mechanical mind concluded: "By 2040, we may live in a world where the 4-day week is the default aspiration, even if it’s not yet the legal standard."
Another 15 years of working five days a week doesn't bear thinking about, and something tells us Gates' mythical two-day week could still be a long way off.