Behind the Curtain: How an AI jobs apocalypse unfolds

One of the most important real-time, real-world debates in America is whether AI causes a short-term job apocalypse among white-collar workers.Two developments unfolding this week show urgent reasons for acute concern:Amazon announced yesterday that it's cutting 14,000 white-collar jobs. JPMorgan, Walmart, Accenture and others have revealed plans to slow hiring. All cited AI. PwC, the accounting and consulting giant, cut staff globally, partly because of AI. Nestlé cut jobs, blaming automation.As importantly, a 2-year-old company with a 22-year-old CEO, founded by three college dropouts, was just valued at $10 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco company, Mercor, pays doctors, lawyers and others to train AI so machines can perform like human professionals. This is part of a mad rush to fine-tune AI with true human expertise so it can do for free what junior employees do now — and, later, what senior ones get paid good salaries to do.Why it matters: All of this amplifies publicly what we keep hearing from CEOs privately. Almost every company is planning to slow hiring in the short term, and operate with much smaller human workforces in the future.Yes, new technologies usually result in a net increase in labor and wealth over time. But the transition is often painful.That's why Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told us that LLMs, like his Claude, could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.Ford CEO Jim Farley warned this summer that AI will replace "literally half" of white-collar jobs.Don't get distracted by record stock prices. (The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all hit new highs yesterday for the third session running.) The surging companies are all benefiting from AI for a simple reason: Companies expect more powerful AI, more productivity, greater profits and fewer workers. The market can easily surge even if joblessness spikes.So listen closely when companies announce big plans for smaller workforces. And pay attention to Mercor, or the revelation that OpenAI is hiring former investment bankers to help train machines to do analysis better than humans.In the short term, that means fewer jobs.The bottom line: AI is coming. CEOs know it, and the academics who understand the labor market best know it, Axios managing editor Ben Berkowitz points out.The question is whether workers themselves are paying attention.💡 News you can use: Microsoft released a detailed report this summer on specific tasks and jobs most at risk to AI — a useful guide to what might lie ahead for your job or specific tasks. See our list of the 10 most-threatened (interpreters and translators) and least-vulnerable (dredge operators) jobs.

Comments

World news

Best fall blankets and throws to keep you warm and cozy

Global News

Comments

Similar News

Questions grow over death of elderly woman left behind on £40k cruise to deserted island

Elderly woman left behind by cruise ship on Great Barrier Reef island found dead

Texas lawsuit against companies behind Tylenol asserts unproven claims of autism risk

Inside the investigation to find brazen thieves behind Louvre heist

A strange brew: the case of the man behind an audacious Scottish tea fraud

The grim reality behind the production of key ingredient in many cosmetics

Behind the Curtain: Trump claims the power to do almost anything

Pregnant 'drugs mule' Bella Culley will have her baby behind bars after agreeing two-year prison deal in Georgia - despite family paying huge £140,000 fine

The epic trolling behind Trump’s ad-trashing trade tantrum: Full Comment podcast

I’m the lawyer behind Awaab’s Law – no baby should die in social housing again

The racism and Islamophobia behind many of the attacks on Zohran Mamdani

The true story behind that viral Louvre jewel heist mystery man photo

Trump Leaves Behind a Reeling Washington to Chase a Deal With China

Traffic decks along Broadway subway line to be removed as project still behind schedule

Ministers are ‘standing by’ their income tax pledge. Here’s the truth behind the spin

Behind the Curtain: The ever-growing AI inequality gap

Blue Jays Face Dodgers in World Series With All of Canada Behind Them

Louvre robbery: 150 DNA traces left behind that could catch seven-minute heist gang

Ringleader behind arson attack was 'groomed' by Russian chatbot, court told

New book details infighting behind Trump’s ‘obviously unqualified’ cabinet picks

World news

Best fall blankets and throws to keep you warm and cozy

Toronto Blue Jays aiming to take World Series lead back home with win tonight

What to know as the annual sign-up window for health insurance arrives

More than 740,000 students head back to class in Alberta after teacher strike ends

Adidas sales dip amid Trump tariffs and Yeezy backlash

Holidaymakers in Jamaica describe scenes inside emergency shelter as Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc

Trump says US-South Korea trade deal ‘pretty much finalised’ after hours of talks

Prosecutors seek 55-year jail terms for ‘Russian mobsters’ over plot to kill Iranian-American journalist

Trump uses fake Indian accent to impersonate India’s leader in rambling speech to Korean delegation

What to know as the annual sign-up window for health insurance arrives

Hurricane Melissa tracker: Where will storm head next after devastating Cuba and Jamaica?

President of Tanzania set for election win after rival candidates barred

Jamaica wakes up to devastation wreaked by Hurricane Melissa as death toll climbs

Dutch voters head to polls as anti-Islam Wilders edges ahead in close election

Trump insists Gaza ceasefire will hold after Israeli airstrikes kill ‘more than 100 people’ overnight

How much does it cost to raise a child? An expert has crunched the numbers

Roof torn off airport as Hurricane Melissa batters Jamaica

IDF drone video claims to show Hamas faking recovery of hostage body

Trump raises eyebrows with awkward Narendra Modi impersonation during APEC speech

ICE officials replaced with Border Patrol, cementing hard tactics that originated in California

US pulling troops out of Nato countries on Russia’s doorstep

Flight map shows plane going right into the eye of Hurricane Melissa

‘Hurricane Melissa isn’t a natural disaster – more needs to be done to call it what it is’

Critics claim skills development fund is ‘circular economy’ of tax dollars, donations

Tony Blair should be part of Trump’s Gaza peace deal, UK’s Middle East minister says

‘Anti-Greta’ climate denier Naomi Seibt seeking asylum in the US claiming political persecution in Europe

Trump ‘sad’ as he concedes the Constitution is ‘pretty clear’ on running for a third term: Live updates

How Russia is risking nuclear catastrophe with attempts to syphon power from Ukraine’s biggest plant

Now former thief claims he warned Louvre bosses security was inadequate

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder claims Unilever blocked the brand’s Palestine-themed ice cream

The 38 state primary schools that have closed because there aren’t enough children

I regret my Victorian townhouse – it costs £600 a month to heat it

Michelle Agyemang’s ‘horrible’ injury is unjustifiable for Lionesses

Russia Aims to Freeze Ukraine Into Submission

Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba after devastating Jamaica with catastrophic damage in 'worst storm this century'

WWI messages in a bottle found on beach after a century

Imprisoned Bahrain activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja starts hunger strike over his detention

Hurricane Melissa ‘strongest ever’ to hit Cuba after battering Jamaica

WWI soldiers' messages in a bottle found on beach more than 100 years later

Amnesty says US strike on a Yemen prison that killed dozens of African migrants may be a war crime

Relatives of Colombian humanitarian worker jailed in Venezuela call for his release

North Korea says it test-fired a cruise missile ahead of Trump’s visit to South Korea

Opposition leaders in Cameroon contest official election results as protests continue

Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka says US revoked his visa

Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in eastern Cuba as a Category 3 storm

Oilers start slow, but happy with win over Mammoth

Three quarters of my income goes on rent – I need three jobs just to afford it

I was sent to state school, my brothers to private – it still feels unfair today

The Renters’ Rights Bill is life-changing – my dog proves it

Here’s where and how to get the morning-after pill in pharmacies for free

The Dutch shift away from populism is a warning to Reform

I escaped Dracula tourist tat to hike among Transylvania’s bison and bears

This is Steve Borthwick’s biggest England gamble yet

Reform’s racism would be laughable if it wasn’t so frightening

I’m a horror expert – these are the best scary films of 2025

This Mick Herron drama is no Slow Horses

ASEAN’s Mixed Feelings About U.S.-China Detente