Technology Is Changing What It Means to Be a Working Person
With the integration of A.I. into our workflows, eventually, we’ll get to a point where there’s little to no work for most humans to do. As a result, we’ll continue to see companies restructure and freeze hiring.
What does it mean when the same output can be achieved by 20% of the workforce? Well, so far our answer is layoffs. And we see how destructive that has been for Americans.
Another question I haven’t seen a good answer to is, what does this mean for the 20% who aren’t needed for a full 8 hours a day at 5 days a week?
The thing is, we’re all accustomed to this industrialized way of working. I wake up in the morning, go to the same site, and do the same activities for 8 hours. Then I repeat it for 5 days in a row.
Introduce the 4-day work week. But technology is too efficient for that. We’ll eventually have to get down to a 3-day work week. Then 2 days…
What will people do with all of this idle time? We have already designed our lives and ambitions around this 100-year-old industrial work schedule and it’s all about to vanish.
Humans tend to derive meaning from contributing to something greater than ourselves. In modern times we have been trained to exclusively fulfill that desire to contribute with our jobs…
