AI can usher in a four-day work week in India

In a country like India, which is built on diversity and dynamism, a four-day work week is filled with obstacles every step of the way. Regulatory roadblocks and deeply-rooted work culture that resists change, make it a challenging prospect to move away from the familiarity of the 9-to-5 grind. 

However, a movement towards a four-day work week is beginning to take shape in India as AI takes the centre stage, challenging the traditional work hours. The era of flexible work hours and work-life balance has arrived and India must catch up. Here’s why.

Employees are burning out and quitting 

Quiet quitting, loud quitting, presenteeism and burnout — all of these terms have been thrown around a lot. These trends are more than hyperbole, with much of the workforce feeling disengaged. Better work-life balance (42%) is the biggest reason for employees in India quitting their job. In fact, 58% of managers and employees report feeling mentally exhausted.  Even with managers reporting their own high level of burnout and ambivalence, there is an apparent disconnect between how managers perceive the burnout of their workers. The numbers are striking: 89% of managers say their employees are thriving, while just 24% of employees feel the same way. 

Such low levels of dissatisfaction can cost businesses dearly. Low employee engagement is not only bad for the employee - it  costs the global economy $8.8 trillion annually — that’s 9% of all global GDP. On the flipside, businesses that are recognised for their health, safety, and well-being initiatives saw 115% growth in earnings per share compared with the 27% earnings per share seen in competitors.

The writing is on the wall — it’s time to do something about the burnout, improve work-life balance, and improve productivity. This is precisely why the Indian workforce needs a four-day work week. Offering employees a 4-day workweek has been proven to unlock tangible benefits for both employees and companies alike. According to the World Economic Forum, employees in organisations that implemented a four-day work week, had higher self-perceived health status, reduced levels of stress, were less tired and felt happier and more personally satisfied. The most important outcome for businesses was that 46% of them reported no dip in productivity and 36% reported improvement in productivity levels. 

AI Agents can usher in a 4-day work week

One of the biggest reasons why organisations shy away from reduced work days is the nature of the business. Many customer-facing businesses have an obligation to be available 24/7 either for support or assistance, making a four-day work week impossible. While most businesses are still mulling over how to implement AI to improve productivity, the innovation they need is already present in the market. One of the biggest challenges to improving productivity for organisations is eliminating the manual, repetitive tasks — the mundane everyday things no one really likes doing. AI Agents are a game changer, and can help businesses eliminate a lot of repetitive processes. 

AI Agents can automate a wide range of tasks across various industries. From customer service, to research assistance, to logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare. For example, AI Agents can be deployed as customer support agents to tackle queries 24/7, ensuring no backlogs on Mondays for organisations choosing a four-day work week. AI Agents can be deployed in manufacturing robotic devices to collaborate with humans on the shop floor, adapting to dynamic situations and making real-time decisions to optimise production. AI Agents are built to tailor their actions and recommendations to an organisation’s specific needs and preferences. From writing emails to managing daily schedules, planning business trips, analysing existing data, assisting in research, and providing personalised health coaching and financial advice, AI Agents are crucial to ushering in the four-day work week, driving operational efficiency, improving productivity, and the bottom line. 

Evidence of AI enabling a four-day work week is that globally, 93% of businesses that are fully proficient in using AI are open to implementing the policy. In contrast, only 41% of businesses that haven’t used AI at all were on board with the idea, with 38% rejecting it altogether. As more businesses adopt AI Agents to streamline processes and handle repetitive tasks, they stand to benefit more than organisations that don’t. AI can usher in surplus productivity that can be used to benefit workers, not just business owners, by freeing up leisure time.

AI is not here to replace humans, but to help them achieve better work-life balance and eliminate the mundane. If Indian workers aim to say, “Thank God it’s Thursday,” AI is the vehicle that can deliver them to such an optimistic future. 

Praveer Kochhar

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Praveer Kochhar is Co-founder of Kogo Tech Labs.