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Mon, 10 Aug 2026

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 Tech leaders say AI means less work - their staff say they work up to 90 hours a week

Tech companies are not modelling their own claims of the technology giving people more free time.

*However, insiders reveal that these same companies are pushing employees to work longer hours than ever before, with some workers putting in 70-90 hour weeks during "sprints".
*The BBC spoke to current and former employees at Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic, who described a culture of long working hours, frequent crisis meetings, and intense pressure to perform.
*A study by UC Berkeley found that AI tools are making people's workloads even more burdensome, with employees working faster, taking on more tasks, and extending their working hours.
*The researchers suggest that the promise of reduced working hours is often an illusion, as new work emerges to fill any time saved from automation.
*Former Google employee Amin Shali left the company in May due to the negative impact of AI on his job, including having to work all hours of the night due to failed internal engineering functions being replaced by AI projects.