2 Times as Many Employed Americans Think AI Will Eliminate the Jobs of Others Compared to Those Who Feel Their Own Job Will Be Eliminated

PHILADELPHIA, PA – According to a new survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Yoh, a leading international talent and outsourcing company and part of Day & Zimmermann, 63% of Americans feel that artificial intelligence (AI) will have negative impacts on the workforce. Of those surveyed, 90% feel AI will change the workplace in some form.

Results also indicated a disconnect between the way employed Americans feel AI will affect other people’s jobs when compared to their own. Of the more than 1,100 employed adults surveyed, 46% said they felt AI will eliminate the jobs of others, while only 23% felt AI may eliminate their job or make their job less essential. Just 24% of employed adults said AI may make it more difficult for them to get a job of their own in the future.

Additional findings include:

• Though results showed 63% of Americans say AI will have some negative impacts on the workplace, 54% believe it will have some positive impacts on the workplace as well.
• Nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) believe that AI will allow businesses to grow and create more jobs.
• While 31% of employed Americans said AI will help other people do their jobs better and faster, only 21% said AI will help them do their own jobs better and faster.
• The disconnect between the feeling that AI will eliminate other people’s jobs versus AI eliminating one’s own job exists across age, gender, income and education levels. Just 15% of those with a high school degree or less say AI will eliminate their job, while 43% say it will eliminate others’ jobs. The feeling is similar for those making $50,000 or less (12% say AI will eliminate their job, 43% say AI will eliminate others’ jobs), those making $100,000+ (14% vs. 46%), and those with college degrees (13% vs. 45%).
• Only 9% of employed Americans feel that AI will not change the workplace.

“As experts in hiring people, we know that artificial intelligence is already improving the way companies recruit, affecting the way people work and changing the way leaders think about jobs of the future,” said Emmett McGrath, President of Yoh. “We believe that it will actually create many more jobs than it eliminate, specifically in technology areas, and we are already seeing some of that right now with the positions we fill for our clients. In the future, it will be up to companies to ensure AI can deliver positive impacts to the way people work and up to individuals to build new, adaptable skills that will be critical in a world where AI is even more pervasive than it is now.”

SURVEY METHODOLOGY
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Yoh from June 7-11, 2018 among 2,050 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,104 are currently employed. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Joe McIntyre at joe@gobraithwaite.com.

ABOUT YOH
For more than 75 years, Yoh has provided the talent needed for the jobs and projects critical to our clients’ success. Our Specialty Practices recruiting experts find high-impact professionals in Aerospace and Defense, Engineering, Health Care, Life Sciences, Information Technology, Interactive Entertainment and Telecommunications. For clients with workforce management needs, our Enterprise Solutions team delivers large-scale workforce solutions, including Managed Services, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Vendor Management Systems, Independent Contractor Compliance, and Payroll Services. For more information, visit www.yoh.com.