AI Job Layoffs Arrive: Time to Renew Push for Shorter Working Hours
Professor John Quiggin highlights a critical oversight in discussions about artificial intelligence (AI): the assumption that any drop in total hours worked automatically means job losses. This perspective ignores the potential for AI-driven productivity improvements to benefit workers through reduced working time rather than solely increasing wages or corporate profits.
Atlassian Layoffs Bring AI Debate to the Forefront
The recent announcement by Australian software giant Atlassian to cut 10% of its staff has intensified the debate over AI and employment. While broader questions about AI's usefulness persist, its transformative impact on the software industry is undeniable. Developers report significant productivity boosts from tools like Anthropic's AI-powered coding assistant Claude.
Yet, the spectre of AI-driven job losses dominates conversations, with little attention paid to the idea that heightened productivity should lead to shorter work hours. This echoes historical patterns where technological advances initially worsened labor conditions before improvements were won through collective action.
Historical Context: From Luddites to the Eight-Hour Day
Fears of job displacement by new technology date back to the Industrial Revolution, when Luddites revolted against machinery. Workers were justified in their rebellion, as the factory system destroyed cottage industries like handloom weaving and drastically increased work hours and intensity. In early 19th-century Britain, average weekly hours neared 70, with some factory laborers working 12-hour days, six days a week.
However, from the mid-19th to late 20th centuries, technological progress gradually reduced working hours. Australia and New Zealand pioneered the eight-hour day in the 1850s. Over the next century, standard weekly hours dropped from 48 to 44, then to 40. The weekend, now a norm, was only secured by Australian workers in 1948, driven by unions and governments against employer resistance.
Stalled Progress and Modern Challenges
By 1980, the Australian Council of Trade Unions campaigned for a 35-hour week, but shifting power dynamics, with weaker unions and governments siding with employers, limited gains. Standard hours were reduced to 38 per week, where they have remained since. Annual leave, increased to four weeks under the Whitlam government, has also stagnated.
Decades later, these conditions seem immutable, leading to assumptions that AI-induced reductions in work hours equate directly to job losses. Yet, the pandemic demonstrated that radical changes in work patterns are possible. Millions shifted to remote work overnight with minimal disruption, and despite employer demands to return to pre-pandemic norms, the proportion of people working from home has barely changed.
Unequal Benefits and Political Resistance
Recent developments, such as legal rights to disconnect and shifting social norms, have countered work intensification, with some office workers quietly taking Friday afternoons off. However, these benefits are not universal. Jobs requiring physical presence, like retail and transport, have seen little change.
Political responses have been mixed. During the 2025 election, Jane Hume proposed ending remote work in the name of equity, reflecting these disparities. The Albanese government opposes a four-day week and has offered no positive initiatives. Only the Greens support the ACTU in reviving shorter hours campaigns, while state premiers like Chris Minns and Peter Malinauskas seek to curtail remote work.
Urgent Need for Shared AI Benefits
There is little doubt that AI will deliver real productivity gains. However, without proactive measures, these benefits may not be shared widely. A return to the long-paused process of gradually reducing working hours is urgently needed to ensure that technological advances improve work-life balance rather than exacerbating inequality.
John Quiggin, a professor at the University of Queensland's School of Economics, emphasizes that reviving the push for shorter working hours is essential in the age of AI to distribute its benefits equitably among workers.
