AI is already changing the workplace, from taking on the tasks of junior employees to creating PowerPoints in your place. Some experts suggest AI could help eliminate wasteful work time and, in turn, cut an entire day from the workweek. And it isn’t such a far-fetched idea anymore.
After examining 245 businesses and nonprofits that piloted a four-day workweek over the last three years, a new study found that working one less day a week improved employees’ mental health and boosted the businesses’ bottom line. Moreover, Iceland adopted a four-day workweek in 2019, and Australia and France have piloted programs. Atom Bank in the U.K. has a four-day workweek — and employees can even be fully remote, if they choose.
Related: Here’s How Eliminating a Workday Without Cutting Pay Impacted Hundreds of Businesses
But don’t tell this to Kevin O’Leary. Despite being a remote work enthusiast who often does interviews from his hotel room in pajama pants, eliminating a day of work during the week is out of the question.
“That’s the stupidest idea I have ever heard,” O’Leary said on “Outnumbered” on Fox News after being asked for his thoughts on four-day workweeks. “There’s no such thing as a work week anymore anyway, in a digital economy.”
That’s the stupidest idea I have ever heard. I think we should let the French go to a two-day work week and then kick their ass internationally. There’s no such thing as a work week anymore anyways on a digital economy. I look at my staff, 40% of them work remotely all around the… pic.twitter.com/jElB5lzLBK
— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) June 1, 2025
O’Leary said about 40% of his staff “work remotely all around the world” and that “it’s project-based,” noting that he only cares about the work getting done, not where or when his staff is working on it.
“Can you get it done by the 15th of June? ‘Yes, I can.’ I don’t care when you do it, four-day, three-day, five-day,” he said.
Related: AI Is Dramatically Decreasing Entry-Level Hiring at Big Tech Companies, According to a New Analysis
We don’t expect the new study data to change O’Leary’s mind, either.
Last year, Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor told O’Leary that his employees and their four-day workweek (adopted in 2021) are “very productive,” and engagement is up 50%.
It doesn’t look like O’Leary was swayed.
