Jeff Bezos: AI could lead to 3-day workweeks, labor shortages

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos expressed optimism about the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the American workforce. In an interview with Fox News, Bezos forecasted that productivity gains from AI could allow families to survive on a single income and workers to maintain themselves by working only three days a week. He explained, "Some people will also decide, you know what? I can support my family by working three days a week. That's what productivity in the economy means."

Bezos's primary concern, however, was not job loss due to AI, but the possibility of a labor shortage if people responded to productivity gains by working fewer hours. He stated, "It's going to actually be difficult to hire people. The productivity in the economy is going to make it so that if people don't want to work two jobs, they won't have to."

When questioned about recent mass layoffs at Amazon, Bezos attributed them to the company's significant expansion during the pandemic. He mentioned that Amazon had eliminated about 30,000 corporate roles in October 2025 and January 2026, the largest workforce reduction in the company's history.