"When...ChatGPT came along, we were all very mesmerized by how powerful it is, how much work it does," said Wei Jiang, professor of finance at Emory University, in a phone interview with The Register. "So we, like other people, anticipated if AI is doing our work, we can work less. And I just find myself actually working longer. So I checked with a few friends, and every one of them says, 'Hey, we're actually working longer.'"
Workplace experts can't decide what's the optimal number of working hours for Gen Z workers-but they know it's not "every waking minute" of the day like Cerebras' CEO suggested, or the 60 hour "sweet spot" Google's Sergey Brin recommended earlier this year. That schedule is unsustainable, but 40-hour workweeks aren't enough for the young and hungry. The CEO of $8.1 billion AI chips company Cerebras recently hit back at the idea entrepreneurs can launch an innovative business working "30, 40, 50 hours a week."
The agreement late Friday ends a weekslong stalemate after the Austin Firefighters Association rejected of a proposal that it said wouldn't substantially increase wages for its personnel. The AFA agreed to a deal that would raise wages by at least 3 percent over four years. The contract also would eventually reduce firefighters' hours to fewer than 50 per week, a key provision that the city pushed back on.
Direct work factors included average workweek hours, employment rate, share of households where no adults work, share of workers with unused vacation time, share of workers who are "involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and workplace," and the rate of idle youth, meaning residents aged 18 to 24 who are not in school or working and do not have a degree beyond a high school diploma or GED.
Known as SGEs, special government employees are limited to 130 days per year of unpaid work. Like recent SGE Elon Musk, they can be in senior positions and still have private employment and clients, unlike typical government workers at departments that handle hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts.