4,000 Americans lost jobs in May due to AI: report
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Chicago: AI is wreaking havoc in the job market as predicted soon after its launch to the mainstream. Around 4,000 people in the US were laid off in May 2023 alone due to artificial intelligence.
A report by coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas says that US employers have cited AI as the reason for 3,900 layoffs. This accounts for around 4.9% of job cuts in the month. However, business closure is the most common reason for layoffs and it has resulted in 19,600 people losing jobs. Marketing and economic conditions caused job loss for 14,600 people. There was no particular reason given in the case of 12,900 people.
The report comes at a time when ChatGPT was speculated to push people out of a range of tasks including writing, administration, and clerical work. Media company CNET laid off reporters and has been using AI to write articles. In March 2023, investment bank Goldman Sachs said AI will replace 300 million full-time jobs.
In the first five months of 2023, economic conditions alone caused nearly 206,300 job losses. A total of 417,500 people were laid off which made it the worst five-month start to a year since 2020 when the pandemic caused 1.4 million layoffs. Apart from the pandemic-caused layoffs, 2023 has seen the worst layoff numbers since the 820,000 layoffs that happened in 2009.
Labour expert Andrew Challenger said that consumer confidence is down to a six-month low and job openings are flattening. "Companies appear to be putting the brakes on hiring in anticipation of a slowdown."
