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Revisiting Keynes’ predictions about work and leisure: A discussion of fundamental questions about the nature of modern work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2025

Seth A. Kaplan Open the ORCID record for Seth A. Kaplan [Opens in a new window] ,
John A. Aitken Open the ORCID record for John A. Aitken [Opens in a new window] ,
Blake A. Allan Open the ORCID record for Blake A. Allan [Opens in a new window] ,
George M. Alliger Open the ORCID record for George M. Alliger [Opens in a new window] ,
Timothy Ballard Open the ORCID record for Timothy Ballard [Opens in a new window]  and
Hannes Zacher Open the ORCID record for Hannes Zacher [Opens in a new window]
Seth A. Kaplan*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
John A. Aitken
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
Blake A. Allan
Affiliation:
Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences Department, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
George M. Alliger
Affiliation:
Consulting Work Psychologist, Houston, TX, USA
Timothy Ballard
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
Hannes Zacher
Affiliation:
Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
*
Corresponding author: Seth A. Kaplan; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Nearly 100 years ago, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that, by today, technological advancements would allow the workweek to dwindle to just 15 hours, or 3 hours per day, and that the real problem of humanity would be filling their time with leisure. Although much has changed in the world of work since this prediction, such a drastic change has not taken place. In this article, several industrial-organizational psychology scholars discuss why this is the case. Why do we continue to work as much as we do, and how might that change? More fundamentally, what do these trends, contra Keynes’ prediction, tell us about the nature of work itself? We use this discussion to propose several research directions regarding the nature of work and how it might change in the future. We depict the phenomenon of working hours as multilevel in nature, and we consider both the positive and negative possible implications of working less than we do now.

Keywords

Work hoursnature of workfuture of workmeaning of workautomation
Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , First View , pp. 1 - 22
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology

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