"Amodei, in two interviews with us - one over the phone and the other this month at our AI+ Summit in D.C. - told us AI could wipe out half of U.S. entry-level white-collar jobs and send unemployment soaring. Ford CEO Jim Farley said almost the same thing this summer. "Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.," Farley told author Walter Isaacson at the Aspen Ideas Festival. "AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind.""
"More telling, two of America's largest private employers are sounding similar warnings: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in June that Amazon will reduce headcount "as we get efficiency gains from using AI": "It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company." In the story topping The Wall Street Journal Saturday morning, Walmart execs said they, too, expect to freeze hiring and change how every job is done. "It's very clear that AI is going to change literally every job," CEO Doug McMillon said. "Maybe there's a job in the world that AI won't change, but I haven't thought of it.""
AI could eliminate roughly half of U.S. entry-level white-collar jobs and sharply increase unemployment. Corporate leaders warn of major workforce reductions as AI delivers efficiency gains, with Amazon expecting reduced corporate headcount and Walmart planning hiring freezes and job redesigns across roles. Some officials prioritize competing with China and assert that new technologies eventually create more and better jobs. Other officials dismiss catastrophic job-loss predictions as doomerism. Both possibilities can coexist: rapid, disruptive short-term job losses followed by longer-term job creation. Prior notice offers an opportunity to prepare workers and policymakers for an accelerated labor-market transition.
Read at Axios
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