If AI Saves Time At Work, What Should Employees Do With It?

What would you do with the time if you got two extra workdays freed up from AI each week? That is what Walmart faced with their new internal AI platform that is saving some store managers up to 15 hours a week by speeding up scheduling, decision-making, inventory planning, and other daily tasks. It is a big shift, but the real issue is what people are expected to do once that time is freed up. Without clear direction, if AI saves time at work, it just becomes open space that fills itself with more of the same. Now that AI can do so much, the question is whether they are ready for it. It sounds helpful to say that employees can now focus on what matters most, but that does not mean anything unless someone explains what that actually looks like.

How Are Employees Using It If AI Saves Time At Work?

I have worked in jobs where I had to be present for eight hours even though they only gave me an hour or two of actual work to do. I was willing to take on more, but they just told me that was all there was to do. I sat through long days doing nothing useful, staring at a clock, waiting to go home. It was so boring and felt like such a waste.

When I worked remotely, if there was not much to do, I could still get paid and move on with my day. That felt easier, but the company was still spending money without getting much back. Everyone knew that there wasn’t a lot of work to do, and no one wanted to say anything because they got paid to do very little. Even the leaders knew this because they were once employees who did the same thing. The thought process might have been that as long as goals were met, it didn’t really matter how long it took.

What Are Other Companies Doing When AI Saves Time At Work?

Now with AI freeing up so much time, some organizations have started to address what to do with that time. Omega Healthcare used AI to handle a large volume of documentation and administrative work. That saved over 15,000 hours a month. Instead of eliminating roles, they shifted employees into reviewing exceptions and solving cases that required human thinking.

At Duolingo, AI tools helped engineering and design teams complete their work faster. Instead of filling that space with extra assignments, they used it to develop new learning tools, test fresh ideas, and build more interactive content.

At Telstra, employees using Microsoft Copilot gained as much as 20 hours per month. Some used it to balance their day better. Others were expected to take on more. The reaction depended entirely on leadership. The software may have saved time, but the way that time was handled came down to culture.

If AI Saves Time At Work, How Can Managers Use That Time?

With all of the free time, it can help to ask people what they would like to do with it. Most employees know what slows them down. Managers can use that information to reshape goals. If AI saves 10 or 15 hours each week, that time can be set aside for work that often gets ignored. That might include coaching, documenting knowledge, building stronger team communication, or identifying inefficiencies that affect others. This also opens the door for learning and development. Employees can use part of that time to observe other roles, build new skills, or explore areas that support their long-term career path. Giving people room to grow builds engagement. It also helps the organization retain talent with broader capabilities.

When AI Saves Time At Work, How Does That Connect To Employee Experience And Retention?

Gallup research shows that people care about how their time is spent. If the work feels useful, they are more likely to stay and contribute. If it feels like the company is filling the day with low-impact tasks, people disengage.

AI is giving leaders a window to rethink how time is used. If companies continue to manage hours the same way they did before, nothing will improve. If they treat the saved time as an opportunity to rethink roles, priorities, and development, they can create a better experience for everyone involved.

When AI Saves Time At Work, Do Employees Always Tell The Truth About How Busy They Are?

When people work remotely, it is easy to say they are busy when they are not. No one is standing over them, and no one knows how long something actually took. If a task takes 15 minutes, they might say it took an hour just to avoid getting more to do. I have seen that happen a lot in multiple industries. People do not want to admit they are done, because they know that means they will get more work and if they are home, they’d rather do something else.

It happens in person too. I have worked with people who clearly had extra time but never said a thing. Some just liked having a quiet day. Some had spoken up before and either got stuck doing something they hated or ended up with a task that was not even part of their job description, and it should have paid more to do. After that, they figured it was easier to keep their mouth shut and do as little as possible.

This is where leaders need to step in to decide if it is enough to meet goals and let people stop at that point or if they need to revise job descriptions and pay people for what they actually do. If the work changes, the role and pay should too.

If AI Saves Time At Work, Should People Be Paid By Task Instead Of Time?

Some organizations are rethinking whether they should pay for tasks instead of time. This question keeps coming up, especially now that AI is exposing how much time is spent doing work that no longer needs to be done. It sounds simple to pay people for what they complete instead of how long they sit at a desk. But most jobs do not work that way.

In jobs where the output is easy to measure, task-based pay might make sense. But in many roles, the job includes problem solving, decision making, and knowing what to focus on without being told. Paying by task could cause people to rush or avoid the harder work altogether.

On the other hand, paying for time often leads to waste. If companies are paying for time, they should at least be clear about what they want people to do with it. Otherwise, they are just funding inactivity.

The best approach might be to keep the structure but raise the expectations and pay if those expectations require more than they were initially hired to do. If someone finishes their tasks early because AI made it easier, that time should be redirected toward something useful. That could be helping others, improving a process, or learning something that benefits the team. Time always needs to have purpose.

Why Does It Matter How AI Saves Time At Work?

When AI saves time at work, the real question is whether anyone knows what that time is for. Saving 15 hours a week sounds impressive, but it only matters if someone decides how that time should be spent. Leaders who take that seriously will create better teams and waste fewer hours. Everyone else will still be watching the clock.