US senator says AI productivity should be used to reduce workweek to four days, not increase company profits

He spoke about this in a recent podcast with Joe Rogan, TechCrunch reports.

«Technology should work for our benefit, not just for the benefit of those who own it and the heads of large corporations. You are a worker, your productivity increases because we give you artificial intelligence, right? Instead of throwing you out on the street, I will reduce your work week to 32 hours,» Sanders said.

For tech companies, improving productivity through AI means they can get more done because their workers are freed up to do more tasks—or they can save money by simply cutting staff. But for workers, this efficiency boost could mean getting the same amount of work done in less time without losing pay.

«This is not a radical idea. There are companies around the world that are doing this with some success,» says Bernie Sanders.

According to him, 61 companies in the UK (a total of 2,900 employees) implemented a four-day workweek in the second half of 2022. Of the 23 companies that provided financial data, revenue from the start to the end of the trial remained about the same, or increased by an average of 1,4%.

The Kickstarter platform has been operating on a four-day workweek since 2021, and Microsoft Japan trialed a four-day workweek in 2019, which reportedly resulted in a 40% increase in productivity.

«Let’s use technology to benefit workers. This means you will have more time for family, friends, education — for everything you want to do,» the senator says.

Bernie Sanders is a well-known American politician who narrowly lost to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. This is not the first time he has advocated using progress for the benefit of workers. In 2023, the senator wrote on X (Twitter) that «with the development of technology and increased productivity, it is time to move to a four-day workweek without loss of pay.

It recently became known that a pilot program to reduce working hours is being launched in Poland, which also involves maintaining current salaries and staff numbers. 2.3 million euros will be allocated for the implementation and execution of the program in 2026. Some cities in the country are already practicing a four-day work week.

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