"Since the widespread adoption of generative AI tools beginning in late 2022, employment for early-career workers in the most AI-exposed occupations fell by 13% on a relative basis, even after controlling for broader firm-level disruptions. Older, more experienced workers in the same fields, meanwhile, saw their employment hold steady or grow."
"The AI revolution was already having a 'significant and disproportionate impact on entry-level workers in the U.S. labor market,' particularly young people ages 22 to 25 in white-collar fields like software engineering and customer service."
"Taken together, the two papers trace the outlines of a labor market transformation that is squeezing workers from both ends: AI encroaching from the top, automation moving in from the bottom."
Erik Brynjolfsson's research reveals a labor market transformation where technology is disproportionately harming workers at both ends of the economic spectrum. His August 2025 study, using ADP payroll data from millions of American workers, found that employment for early-career workers in AI-exposed occupations declined 13% relative to other workers since late 2022, while experienced workers in the same fields maintained or grew employment. A subsequent February study discovered that minimum wage increases accelerate industrial robot adoption on factory floors. Together, these findings demonstrate how AI encroaches from the top of the labor market while automation advances from the bottom, creating a squeeze that particularly affects young workers ages 22-25 in white-collar roles and blue-collar workers facing increased mechanization.
#ai-displacement #labor-market-transformation #automation-and-robotics #entry-level-workers #wage-inequality
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