AI job layoffs are here: it’s time to revive the push for shorter working hours |
The announcement that Australian software giant Atlassian will lay off 10% of staff has brought the debate over artificial intelligence (AI) and jobs closer to home.
While a broader question about the usefulness of AI remains unresolved, there can be no remaining doubt that it has transformed the software industry, with developers reporting massive increases in productivity from the use of Anthropic’s AI-powered coding tool Claude.
The spectre of AI-driven job losses has been the subject of much debate. But missing almost entirely from this debate is the idea that the increased productivity associated with AI should deliver a reduction in working hours, rather than an increase in wages or, more likely, corporate profits.
Concerns around the loss of jobs to new technology dates back to the Industrial Revolution and the machine-smashing riots led by “Luddites”. Workers at the time were right to revolt. The initial effect of the factory system was not only to destroy the cottage industry of handloom weaving but to drastically increase the hours and intensity of........