Smarter Social Introduces a 3-Day Work Week
Smarter Social in the UK implements a 3-day work week for employees using AI technologies as part of government initiative.
** This is a speculative news article for a social simulation game. **
Smarter Social, a London-based social media company, first made waves in late 2023 when it launched with a four-day work week policy for all its employees. The decision was lauded as a progressive and employee-friendly move, and the company soon saw a boost in morale and productivity.
Three years later, the company is taking another step forward by implementing a new three-day work week policy for most of its employees as part of the UK government's initiative to test the feasibility of a shorter work week for companies that use AI technologies.
![Portrait of a man working in his home woodworking studio. Generated by Midjourney. Portrait of a man working in his home woodworking studio. Generated by Midjourney.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb8f77d7c-fda9-4b18-be7c-de6d51b033e4_1610x1616.png)
The company's investment in AI-powered technologies has made the new three-day work week policy possible. AI-generated content, such as graphics, images, and even written text, has allowed employees to create original content quickly and efficiently, without needing specialized skills or spending a lot of time. Additionally, the company leverages data analytics and generative AI to customize its platform's layout and user experience for each individual user, providing a more personalized and enjoyable experience.
The company's employees will still work eight-hour days for three days a week, with AI technologies serving as co-workers in content moderation, generative design for the social media platform's user interface, and other troubleshooting projects.
The UK government's initiative to test a three-day work week for companies using AI technologies reflects a growing trend towards exploring alternative work arrangements that prioritize employee well-being and work-life balance. As companies like Smarter Social continue to innovate and experiment with new policies, the future of work may be more flexible and employee-friendly than ever before.
📢 Sound-Off: What would life be like with a three-day work week?
If you were an employee at Smarter Social, what would you do with your extra time off during the week? What new hobbies or skills could you develop outside of work, and how would this impact your quality of life?
In a future where work-life balance is a top priority for companies, how might the overall job market and economy change? How might a three-day work week affect companies that embrace co-working with AI and those that do not?
With a three-day (or four-day) work week becoming more common in this future, how might this impact society's view of work and productivity, and what new societal norms might emerge?
Comment below with your responses, or join our LIVE discussions on Discord.
Please note: Story and visual materials were created with the support of AI tools. Smarter Social is a fictional social media company. Marcus Williams is a fictional person.
First, I would probably learn more about time management and strategic planning skills. I'd enroll on those classes to be more efficient in the workplace (I have expounded more on this on the following paragraphs). But aside from that, (and improving my cooking skills to allow better sustenance as I would be staying home more often), learning much about how AI works, particularly in my Smarter Social company, I'd gain a better understanding on how I can properly adapt and be more productive, thus ensuring I retain my 3 day work week and not have it revoked.
Thus, allow me to provide some additional thoughts and opinions based on the above statement. Reduced workdays may have been tried and tested previously by other companies much to their success as productivity is weighed against schedules and demands. However, in an IT setup, one has to consider how core processes like customer service needs to be addressed in terms of schedules and demand (AI can provide support only in terms of resource allocation,
Adaptability of the company workforce may answer the balancing of work shifts, if management has put well in place a suitable system for the 3 day work shift. Amd, given the current setup, AI can help out in maintaining order on the employees' changing work schedules based on the work output demands, as dictated by the customer needs as well. But arguably, how well can AI and the employee workforce withstand the unpredictable growing demands of the company's customer needs?
And as much as AI can augment productivity by eliminating repetitive and unnecessary work routines, the workforce is still left with settling the complexities of strategizing and assessing the current needs of their customers. The strategizing and planning may still take up more time as demands are not sufficiently and efficiently met, and this too, may shorten the work hours allocated for actual work productivity. And working overtime then poses a threat to the 3 day work week system.
And with that, I could say that aside from lessening and eliminating work-related stress and the work dissatisfaction, the economy would get more boost not only through the direct revenue of Smart Social and other similar companies, but indirectly too, boosting revenues in other areas like entertainment (malls, etc.), learning institutions (think of vocational schools) , tourism (more vacations) as more professionals have time and money to spend.
But, at the same time, probably not all companies can avail of this setup. Healthcare and emergency services, require a 24/7 work coverage. Other companies too, esp. larger ones, given the complexities of their operations, and their multi-national and multi-cultural structures, may give up on adapting this system, since strategizing for it will be hard, even with AI and ML.
Given that these opinions (and challenges) I mentioned are hurdled, I believe that it is possible to come up with 3 day work setup. All that we need is to come up with solutions for different industries, consistently and constantly plan and strategize, making full use of AI and ML to address the diverse needs to meet productivity demands within a 3-day work week.
I'm all for work-life balance. Having more time to recharge physically and mentally will relax our neurons :) to make them productive again, capable of more creative and strategic thinking. I don't think I'm a workaholic when I think about work while I stir fry my weekend veggies or while I'm taking a long warm bath. But those moments of feeling relaxed physically and freeing my mind of unnecessary stress at work, in the office, doing "tasks" and attending meetings, give me the mind space to think strategically about long term project plans, think futuristically, think systemically, envision roadmaps and my larger audience and stakeholders. It is in the quiet and thoughtful times that you really allow yourself, your mind, to really think about things. Be it about work or otherwise. Having more time also to manage your personal life will give you the peace of mind and the focus you need when you are at work, thus, you become more productive and effective (in both areas).
On the other hand, I'm a bit concerned about how technology is taking over my work, our work... our jobs? Classic concern. Organizations need to determine the extent of how technology can deliver the services and outputs expected from the company. Employers need to identify what part of the organization's service to the customer can be delivered by technology and what part can only be effectively delivered by their human resources. Employers also need to develop their workforce to enable them to support the technology they are using, and support their customers that are now interfacing with the technology. In the same manner, employers need to let technology empower their employees to be more productive and innovative since technology is supposed to simplify processes and make work more efficient. Shifting to AI enabled processes at work is more than just a technology and process change but is, to a great extent, a culture change and needs to be managed accordingly with the lens of empathy.