Japan is a whole other mess caused by the exotic monetary policy used to cushion the real estate crash and a risk adverse corporate culture unwilling to properly make use of it, causing investment to stagnate.

This is about it. If you can produce 2x output per worker you’re not going to give each worker half days, you’re going to cut down your workforce until supply once again matches demand. As this cycle repeats jobs become more and more competitive as workers fight for placements at these more efficient firms. They’ll pursue advanced degrees and extra certifications to stand out. This produces a lot of stuff, but ultimately creates a warped standard of living. Higher productivity ironically makes time spent not working or pursuing prerequisites to work more expensive.

That’s not how the economy works. Unless there’s no human work to do at all, most will just be pushed out of their comfier thinking jobs into physical labor jobs.