Illustration: Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images
These are tough times for the U.S. labor market, with rising unemployment and stagnant wages. While there is intense debate about the extent to which AI is responsible for the dire state of the labor market, one thing is certain. That means workers are increasingly furious about technology, which they perceive will undermine the little job security they had.
As a result, business leaders are excited about the coming AI revolution but worried about its counterattack.
For example, at the World Monetary Fund Summit in Davos, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva began her speech on AI by calling it a “key driver of economic growth.”
“While we see the potential for growth to rise by up to 0.8 percentage points over the next few years, the labor market has been hit like a tsunami, and most countries and businesses are unprepared for it,” she worried.
Her disturbing comments come after a year of dramatic layoffs and hiring slowdowns, with major companies often pointing the finger at AI. For example, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in September that the company would cut 4,000 customer support jobs because automation “requires fewer people.” In October, Amazon began its biggest layoff in its history, cutting 14,000 administrative jobs, citing AI as a key factor.
It should come as no surprise to fellow business leaders that John Q. Pavlik is becoming increasingly angry over reports that AI will take away jobs.
The Global Talent Trends 2026 report flags: CNBCAnalytics firm Mercer found that concerns about job losses due to AI will jump from 28% in 2024 to 40% in 2026.
The company’s research also found that 62% of employees feel their leaders underestimate the psychological and emotional impact of AI. And why shouldn’t it? Executives have spent the last year bragging about their purported AI revolution and the rhetoric they used to con them out of enough investment money to fundamentally change the U.S. economy.
Workers, on the other hand, should not be blamed for their initiative, but in today’s economy it seems that they are the only ones expected to pay the price.
Learn more about labor: Palantir CEO says AI will force us to work like farmers
