“Artificial intelligence will displace more jobs than it creates on a net basis.”

Artificial intelligence's impact on the labor market will depend on whether the technology automates or augments worker tasks. Employment in the computer systems design and related services sector has declined 5 percent. More broadly, employment has declined 1 percent since late 2022 in the 10 percent of sectors most exposed to AI. However, wages are rising in AI-exposed occupations that place a high value on a worker's tacit knowledge and experience, suggesting AI may substitute for entry-level workers but complement experienced workers.

A majority invested in AI in 2025, and a much larger share expect to invest in AI in 2026. Strikingly, especially in light of recent slowing aggregate job growth, we find little evidence that firms have experienced or anticipate near-term AI-driven employment declines, even as AI could reshape task allocation. Firms reported a negligible impact from AI on employee headcounts in 2025, and the average impact on 2026 employment levels is also close to zero, though large companies expect to reduce employment by 0.8 percent in 2026.

Despite concerns about widespread job losses, AI adoption is expected to have only a modest and relatively temporary impact on employment levels. Goldman Sachs Research estimates that unemployment will increase by half a percentage point during the AI transition period as displaced workers seek new positions. But the impact is likely to be transitory as new job opportunities created by the technology ultimately put people to work in other capacities.

Goldman Sachs Research estimates that 300 million jobs globally are exposed to automation by AI. In Briggs' base case, the timeline for firms to adopt AI on a wide scale is around 10 years, and 6-7% of workers will be displaced during that transition period. But AI is also likely to help create jobs—particularly in the buildout of the power and data center infrastructure required to sustain the boom.

With nearly 40 percent of global jobs exposed to AI-driven change, concerns about job displacement and declining opportunities for some groups are becoming more acute. Employment levels in AI-vulnerable occupations are lower in regions with high demand for AI skills—3.6 percent lower after five years than in regions with less demand for these skills, and generative AI adoption reduces entry-level hiring.

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 projected that AI and related technologies would create 97 million new roles globally by 2027, while displacing approximately 85 million. That's a net positive of 12 million jobs — but the critical detail is that the jobs being created are fundamentally different from the jobs being displaced. According to McKinsey's 2025 Global Survey on AI, only 8% of companies reported net job reductions attributable to AI, while 38% reported net job creation.

Ninety-two million jobs are projected to be displaced by 2030, with 170 million new ones emerging. But these aren't direct exchanges happening in the same locations with the same individuals. The real challenge isn't only about job numbers; it's about the gap between where jobs vanish and where they come back, between the skills workers possess and the skills that new roles require.

Contrary to some expectations, the data from the report does not show job or wage destruction from AI. While occupations with lower exposure to AI saw strong job growth (65%) in recent years (2019-2024), growth remained robust even in more exposed occupations (38%).

On the whole, there is a mildly negative correlation between employment trends and AI usage, suggesting that AI may be depressing job growth. This trend is especially evident in certain tech industries, including cloud, web search and computer systems design, which stopped growing at the end of 2022, just after the release of ChatGPT.

In 2024, AI growth generated thousands of jobs, with estimates of more than 8,900 employees added to the U.S. economy to develop, train, and operate AI models, including machine learning engineers and data scientists. Altogether, AI created about 119,900 direct jobs last year. In contrast, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas estimates that approximately 12,700 jobs were lost due to AI in 2024, far less than the number created by the technology.

A study released by the McKinsey Global Institute predicts that up to 800 million jobs globally may be replaced by AI by 2030, while AI will also create 130 million to 230 million new job opportunities.

After the public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, job postings for occupations that involve lots of structured and repetitive tasks, likely replaceable by generative AI, decreased by 13%. Meanwhile, employer demand for jobs that require more analytical, technical, or creative work—potentially enhanced by artificial intelligence—grew 20%.

Artificial intelligence is creating more jobs than it is eliminating, even as it reshapes technical roles across industries, according to a new report from Snowflake. Globally, 77% of firms reported AI-driven job creation, while 46% reported job losses, according to the report. Of those experiencing both hiring and cuts, 69% said the overall effect of AI on the workforce has been positive, suggesting that as adoption scales, AI is driving net job growth rather than simple consolidation.

The “ROI of Gen AI and Agents” report reveals that 77% of organizations report AI-driven job creation, compared to 46% reporting job loss. Of the organizations that have seen both hiring and cuts, 69% say the overall effect of AI on the workforce has been positive, signaling that as adoption accelerates, AI is driving overall job growth rather than consolidation.

We find that LLM adoption among U.S. workers has increased rapidly from 30.1% as of December 2024 to 35.9% as of December 2025, and adoption in the U.S. remains near the top among advanced economies. Across the entire economy, it is not entirely clear what the long-run aggregate GDP gains will be from the advent of Generative AI.

We find no systematic increase in unemployment for highly exposed workers since late 2022, though we find suggestive evidence that hiring of younger workers has slowed in exposed occupations. Occupations with higher observed exposure are projected by the BLS to grow less through 2034.

The American public is worried about the impact of AI in the workplace. Even sectors once known for worker autonomy are beginning to feel the pain, with tech companies using the fruits and threat of AI to push workers harder, resulting in longer hours, fewer jobs, and higher expectations for remaining workers.

AI chatbots and other generative AI have already caused job displacement, although it varies by field and the magnitude remains unclear. An August 2025 Stanford working paper found early-career workers (ages 22-25) in the most AI-exposed occupations have experienced a 13% decline in employment relative to less exposed occupations.

Here's my contrarian view: AI will actually generate more jobs than it eliminates. I'm not trying to sugarcoat the issue and say no jobs will be lost. But over time, I predict that AI will be a net job creator. More specifically, it will eradicate tasks but not professions.

Nearly 40% of companies that adopt AI choose automation instead of using AI to support workers, which increases job displacement due to AI. Reports show that AI contributed to 4.5% of total job losses in 2025, proving that AI and job loss are already measurable.