Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Predicts Three- or Four-Day Workweek as AI Reshapes Jobs

Zoom Chief Executive Eric Yuan said the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence could shrink the traditional five-day workweek to three or four days, a change he and other technology leaders say will alter when — and how much — people work.

In an interview with The New York Times, Yuan argued that if AI "can make all of our lives better, why do we need to work for five days a week?" He predicted that most companies will move toward shorter schedules as automation reduces the need for round-the-clock human labor, while acknowledging that some jobs will be lost as AI agents replace routine tasks.

"Every company will support three days, four days a week," Yuan said, adding that the shift could "ultimately free up everyone's time." He noted, however, that technology-driven change historically both eliminates and creates jobs: "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. However, you still need to manage that code. You also create a lot of digital agents, and you need someone to manage those agents."

Yuan's comments echo remarks from other prominent figures in the tech industry. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates raised the prospect of a two- or three-day workweek while discussing the accelerating pace of AI on national television. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNN that the AI revolution is only beginning and said he expected a four-day workweek even as he predicted people would be "busier in the future than now." JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has also suggested AI could shorten work hours, saying technology may allow future generations to work fewer days.

Not all industry voices have been uniformly optimistic. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned of a potential "jobs armageddon" for white-collar roles as AI automates increasingly complex tasks. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, said his company used automation to replace roughly 700 employees without hiring new staff, an example cited by critics who warn of widespread displacement.

Research on shorter workweeks offers mixed but often positive results on worker well-being and productivity. A 2022 pilot of a four-day workweek in the United Kingdom reported increased employee satisfaction, reduced burnout and maintained or higher productivity. U.S. performance coaching firm Exos found that removing one workday reduced employee burnout by half and increased output by 24 percent in its study sample.

Proponents of a shorter week say AI-driven automation will take over repetitive tasks such as email drafting, scheduling and basic coding, enabling employees to focus on higher-value work or to reduce hours. Skeptics caution that while automation may boost productivity, it does not automatically translate into more leisure time for workers and could result in significant job losses in some sectors.

Economists and historians point to prior technological transitions — including the industrial revolution and the rise of computers and the internet — which eliminated certain jobs while creating new roles in engineering, logistics and management. Yuan and others argue the current AI shift will follow a similar pattern, creating new categories of work such as managing digital agents and overseeing AI-generated outputs.

Policymakers, labor groups and corporations face competing pressures as they respond to these forecasts. Companies weighing shorter workweeks must balance productivity goals, labor costs and talent retention, while governments and unions consider regulation, retraining programs and social safety nets to address displacement.

Whether AI will produce a broadly adopted three-day workweek, spur incremental reductions in hours, or mainly accelerate job churn remains an active debate among technology executives, researchers and policymakers. For now, Yuan's prediction adds to a chorus of high-profile statements that highlight how AI is prompting leaders to rethink not only how work is done but also how much of it is needed.