Andrew Yang predicts millions of Americans could lose their jobs sooner than they think
Entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has issued a fresh warning over millions of white-collar workers in the U.S. losing their jobs to Artificial Intelligence. The Forward Party founder wrote in his latest Substack post that AI will take these jobs as soon as "in the next 12 - 18 months" on Monday. Yang argued that when a single company begins cutting its workforce as a result of the efficiency boom from AI, its competitors will follow suit, and the job market will unravel.
Yang has long argued about the devastating effects of AI on the workforce, and back in 2018, he told the New York Times that a major technological shift could destabilize society and provoke "riots in the street." Now, in his blog post titled ‘The End of the Office,’ Yang said AI will continue to replace white-collar workers and make some jobs seem "obsolete" with its huge computing power. “How many roles essentially consist of processing information and then presenting it to someone to make a decision? Now not only the process and report will be automated, but perhaps the decision as well,” Yang argued. He added that this, in turn, will result in the "great disemboweling" of white-collar jobs. It will eventually become a competition among companies once the stock market starts rewarding firms for cutting workforce and increasing efficiency.
In his post, Yang listed out the workers who could be the most vulnerable to AI. The list included middle managers, mid-career office workers, call center workers, coders, marketers, and more. To summarize, Yang wrote, "Do you sit at a desk and look at a computer much of the day? Take this very seriously." He added that millions of workers are about to be handed their pink slips very soon.
Yang noted that there are approximately 70 million white-collar workers in the U.S. and claimed that the number could decrease by 20% to 50% in the coming years. Moreover, finding a job for these workers will also be tough, as companies will be "loath to hire." "If you are one of the professionals who is likely to be affected, I’m sorry. But this is real. Cut your expenses and take precautionary measures, because there will be many people losing their jobs and you could easily be one of them," Yang wrote. He further claimed that the mass layoffs will result in office parks being emptied, a rise in pessimism, entry-level jobs vanishing, personal bankruptcies, and more.
Yang's observations seem to be evident on the ground already, as in January, companies laid off more employees than in any other year since 2009. While most layoffs have been attributed to corporate restructuring and economic uncertainty, a few companies have stated AI adoption as the reason. Pinterest laid down plans to cut 15% of its workforce, with one spokesperson calling it a part of the company's "AI-forward strategy," Business Insider reported. Similar reasons were shared by HP as well, and it announced plans to cut 6,000 jobs by 2028.
Other experts have also echoed such concerns, though some believe that not everything is doomed. “People will need to upskill, shift functions, and lean into what machines can’t replicate. Ten years ago, ‘content creator’ wasn’t a viable lane; now it’s an industry. The same pattern will repeat,” Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek, citing adaptability as the key to survival.
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