Tech companies have spent years promising that artificial intelligence would let employees accomplish more in less time. However, workers at several companies leading that effort are now describing a different outcome: AI tools have made them more productive, but their working days have not gotten shorter.
A former OpenAI technical employee told the BBC they worked roughly 70 hours a week, using weekends to catch up on tasks. Workers at OpenAI and Anthropic also described release sprints that exceeded 90 hours across seven days.
At Meta, some employees said workers were moved onto urgent AI projects with little notice, with some assignments running into nights and weekends.
Research in progress at UC Berkeley offers a possible explanation. Over an eight-month study at a 200-person tech company, researchers found that employees using generative AI worked faster and took on more than before. Work also expanded into time that had previously served as a break, often without a manager asking for it directly.
The central question the report raises is direct. If these tools return hours of labor to a company, who ends up benefiting from those hours, the worker or the employer?
There are a few practical lessons you can take from this as an employee:
1. Track output, not just hours. Document the actual outcomes AI helps you produce, not just the volume of tasks completed. Clear records make it easier to argue for reduced hours rather than expanded scope when reviews come around.
2. Treat reclaimed time as a negotiation point, not a given. The Berkeley research found that expanded workloads often crept in without managers directly asking for it.
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3. Watch for role expansion disguised as flexibility. Workers at OpenAI already use AI tools to take on tasks outside their normal roles. This can build valuable, visible skills, but it also blurs the line of what a job requires. Employees benefit from being clear with managers about which added responsibilities are temporary and which are becoming permanent.
4. Pay attention to health signals early. Amin Shali revealed he had improved sleep and health after leaving Google.
5. Follow how companies structure any time-back policies. Employees who understand how their company defines and measures productivity gains will be better placed to make the case when those policies are discussed internally.
