Employees and CEOs disagree on what AI will mean for jobs

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 26/02/2025

Opinions about what AI will mean for jobs varies a lot between employees and their bosses. About half of workers (52%) in a US survey are worried about the future impact of AI use in the workplace and 32% think it will lead to fewer jobs for them in the long run, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. But CEOs have another opinion. “While it is early days, there is nothing in our data to suggest a widespread reduction in employment opportunities across the global economy as a result of GenAI. More CEOs say GenAI has increased headcount than decreased it (17% v 13%)”, a global CEO survey by consultancy PwC says.

And while 36% of workers in the Pew survey also say they feel hopeful about how AI may be used in the workplace in the future, a similar share (33%) say they feel overwhelmed.

About one-in-six workers (16%) say at least some of their work is currently done with AI. 

And an additional 25% say, while they’re not using it much now, at least some of their work can be done with AI. These shares are significantly higher among young workers and workers with at least a bachelor’s degree, the Pew survey says.

56% of chief executives globally report efficiency gains by using generative AI while 34% say it has improved profitability and 32% report revenue increases, according to the PwC survey. 

“CEOs are more likely to say GenAI has led to headcount increases than decreases. Almost 60% of CEOs around the world expect global economic growth to increase over the next 12 months”, the PwC survey says.

Trust in AI remains a hurdle to more widespread adoption. Only a third of CEOs said they have a high degree of trust in embedding the technology into key processes in their company, the report says.

“Despite this, CEOs’ optimism about GenAI’s impacts on profitability is slightly up on last year – with 49% expecting an increase in the next 12 months. Roughly half (47%) expect to integrate AI (including GenAI) into their technology platforms over the next three years, 41% plan to integrate it into core business processes and 30% have plans for new products and service development.”

Key findings from the Pew survey:

• • Few workers think AI use in the workplace will improve their job prospects in the long run.
  • Only 6% of workers say workplace AI use will lead to more job opportunities for them in the long run. 32% say it will lead to fewer opportunities for them, and 31% say it will not make much difference. Some 17% of workers have not heard about the use of AI in the workplace.
  • Workers with lower and middle incomes are more likely than those with upper incomes to say workplace AI use will lead to fewer job opportunities for them. In turn, upper-income workers are more likely to say workplace AI use won’t make much difference in their job opportunities.
  • Across industries, workers in information and technology and those working in banking, finance, accounting, real estate or insurance are among the most likely to say that the use of AI will lead to more job opportunities for them in the long run.

• 63% say they don’t use AI much or at all in their job. AI users are generally younger: 73% are under 50, compared with 65% among non-AI users. And about half of AI users (51%) have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 39% of non-AI users.
• Among non-AI users, 31% say at least some of their work can be done with AI. The share saying this is larger among workers younger than 50 and among those with at least a bachelor’s degree.
• About one-in-ten workers say they use AI chatbots – such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot – at work every day or a few times a week; 7% use them a few times a month.
• Workers who have used AI chatbots are more likely to find them helpful in speeding up their work than in improving its quality.

Key findings from the PwC survey:

• Almost 60% of CEOs expect global growth to increase over the next 12 months, up from 38% last year and 18% two years ago.
• 42% expect to increase headcount over the next 12 months – more than twice the number expecting to decrease it. 
• 42% of CEOs believe their company will not be viable beyond the next 10 years without reinvention, as nearly four in ten say they have begun competing in new sectors in the last five years
• Climate related investments are six times more likely to have resulted in increased revenue than decreased revenue.
• The report, comprising 4,701 CEOs across 109 countries and territories, finds that 42% expect to increase headcount by 5% or more in the next 12 months – more than double the proportion who expect headcount decreases (17%), and up from 39% last year.