Zety, a leading career and resume service, finds that AI has already been adopted by a large portion of the workforce (71%). The study finds that fear of job loss as a result of AI integration has come to fruition, with 25% of respondents stating they have already lost their job due to AI.
Polling 1,150 people across the U.S., the AI in the Workplace Report finds extremely high AI adoption rates in the workplace, with a significant percentage of those surveyed already using AI at work. When accounting for personal usage, use of AI among participants increased even higher. Nearly one-quarter (23%) use AI for both work and personal use, 48% use AI at work, 28% use AI only for personal use, and 1% say they don’t use AI.
In addition to rising AI usage, concerns over losing one’s job to emerging technology run high. Of the 89% of respondents that reported a fear of losing their job to AI, a quarter of those respondents have already experienced job loss due to AI at their workplace.
“The idea of losing your job as a result of companies incorporating AI into daily activities has been a regular topic of discussion and growing concern among the workforce,” says Dominika Kowalska, career expert for Zety. “The advent of AI is still a relatively new development and it’s alarming that so many individuals in the survey have already experienced the worst-case scenario when it comes to AI – being replaced by technology and forced to find a new job.”
Survey results suggest that younger workers, likely in entry-level positions, are most at-risk for AI-related job loss, with 43% of people 25 or younger saying they have already lost a job due to AI, 27% of people between 26-40 years old saying they have lost a job due to AI, and 19% over the age of 41 saying they have lost a job due to AI.
While the workforce has not had a lengthy amount of time and experience using AI tools, the study uncovered that most participants are eager to grow and develop their AI expertise. Only 5% of respondents have been using AI since 2021, with 8% adopting the technology in 2022 and the majority (60%) beginning to use AI in 2023. Over one-quarter (26%) began using AI in 2024, and 1% of respondents have yet to use AI.
Most participants have a year or less of experience using AI tools, but the study also shows that employees are making a concerted effort to seek out training to grow their technical skills and stay ahead of the curve. A majority (95%) of respondents say they are going through a training program to establish or develop AI skills.
“Becoming familiar with AI tools, developing your technical skills and identifying opportunities to begin working with AI in your current job are critical steps to coming out on top as AI begins to have a profound effect on the workplace,” says Kowalska. “It’s clear that people have recognized this wave of change is on its way and learning, training and adapting is the smartest path forward.”
