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Jeff Bezos’ vision for the average American worker involves a lot less work — and netizens aren’t buying it.

The Amazon founder recently claimed that artificial intelligence (AI) could generate enough productivity gains to allow people to support a family on a three-day workweek or permit a household to live comfortably on a single income.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Bezos put forward the seemingly contrary claim that AI, rather than contributing to mass unemployment, would instead create a labour shortage because people simply wouldn’t need to work as much to make ends meet.

“Some people will also decide, you know what? I can support my family by working three days a week,” he said.

“That’s what productivity in the economy means. It’s going to actually be difficult to hire people because 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,” he continued.

The tech billionaire, who at one point was also the richest man on the planet, offered up this gem at a moment when the future of thousands of workers employed by his own company appears quite fraught.

While Bezos was busy painting a pretty picture of a utopian future where people (which people, exactly?) wouldn’t have to work too much, his own company slashed about 1,000 white collar jobs this past week, according to Reuters — a continuation of the cuts that have rendered 30,000 employees jobless since last year.

Ironically, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy took home $40.1 million in 2024, a 37 per cent wage hike compared to the previous year.

Bezos hasn’t explicitly stated these cuts are related to technology-related changes. He instead attributed his company’s layoffs to ‘over-hiring’ during the pandemic rather than the technology he now champions.

Amazon is just one of many companies in tech restructuring their employee roster, with AI becoming a favoured justification for these efforts. AI has been cited in more than 180,000 corporate layoffs in the United States since May 2023, with over 112,000 occurring in 2026 by itself.

And blue collar jobs are as much at risk as white collar jobs. Certain industries have seen line workers being compensated a token amount to allow AI to record their day-to-day actions so that their workflows can be used to train specialised AI models that will eventually make their jobs redundant. It’s already happening in Pakistan and India.

Unsurprisingly, the internet’s reaction to Bezos’s three-day workweek prophecy was less than charitable.

Netizens pointed out the dramatic difference between a billionaire’s thought experiment and the lived reality of workers being automated out of their livelihoods.

Some noted that a three-day week might not exactly be a choice granted by prosperity, but rather all the work employers have left for humans to do.

Others observed that Bezos’ own warehouse and delivery staff have long fought for fair wages and humane conditions, making his uncharacteristic concern for work-life balance ring somewhat hollow.

One user on X referenced Amazon’s tightly monitored warehouse shifts, where even bathroom breaks are reportedly tracked.

Someone pointed out the foolish optimism in hoping for a three-day workweek, rightly noting that employers are more likely to use AI to pressure employees to raise output while continually suppressing wages.

Another pointed out how, if employers wished to compensate workers adequately, they would already be doing it.

This user used the example of Amazon workers’ financial struggles to caution against believing Bezos’ claims.

This one wants people to know that billionaires always want ‘just a little bit more’ from their employees before they ‘give back’.

And this meme sums up all the questions we have about Bezos’ unfortunate claims.

The irony is sharpest when you consider how Amazon treats the workers it already has.

In 2024, an 18-month Senate investigation found the company prioritised speed over worker safety and manipulated injury records to make its warehouses appear safer than they actually are.

Granted, technology has reshaped work before, but productivity alone doesn’t guarantee that everyone benefits.

Without a fairer way of sharing the gains, we could end up with an economy that produces enormous wealth while many people struggle to get by. While some may be able to take four days off a week, others — especially daily wagers — may struggle to find jobs even if they are willing to work seven days a week.

And until that changes, the three-day workweek will remain the carrot in the billionaire’s hand even as he pushes to make his workforce redundant in the name of cost-savings.