Will AI create or take away more job opportunities?

Will AI be a net job creator or destroyer? I'll pull the latest research to weigh both sides for you.

AI will do both - create and destroy jobs at large scale. Most major forecasts project a net gain globally, but with huge churn, uneven impacts, and a difficult transition for many workers.

What the big forecasts say: Net creation, massive churn

The most quoted figure is from the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025, based on a survey of over 1000 employers across 55 countries:

> automation and artificial intelligence are ready to eliminate the equivalent of 92 million jobs globally by 2030

But the same report announces at the same time the creation of 170 million new jobs within the same timeframe, indicating a net gain of 78 million jobs. Another summary puts it as while 92 million jobs might be eliminated by 2030, 170 million new roles will be created.

The report frames this as 22% of today's jobs will be created or destroyed, with 14% newly created and 8% destroyed.

In the U.S., McKinsey Global Institute's September 2025 base case finds a similar pattern to 2035:

> AI and automation will cut demand for about 36 million U.S. jobs by 2035 while growth elsewhere creates about 41 million

That is a net gain of roughly 5 million jobs.

Other institutions measure exposure rather than outright loss:

•Goldman Sachs estimated AI "could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs to automation". Its actual displacement forecast if AI is widely adopted is 6% to 7% of the US workforce.

•IMF estimates that 60% of jobs in advanced economies are "exposed" to AI, and about 40% of global employment is exposed.

•41% of companies worldwide plan to reduce their workforce by 2030, primarily due to AI automation.

Why AI Creates Jobs

History teaches that every major technological breakthrough changes jobs far more often than it eliminates them. Rather than replacing entire professions, AI is automating repetitive tasks, augmenting human capabilities, and creating opportunities to focus on higher-value work.

PwC's Global AI Jobs Barometer 2025, analyzing over 1 billion job postings, found that in occupations most exposed to AI, job numbers grew by 38 per cent between 2019 and 2024, suggesting AI is more likely to transform job functions than eliminate them outright.

New roles cluster around:

•AI system management, data engineering, cybersecurity, green technology, and human-AI collaboration roles that did not exist a decade ago

•Data annotators, AI trainers, and machine-learning engineers

•Care economy jobs - nursing, social work, counselling, personal care, and education - based on human judgment, empathy and interpersonal trust that cannot be meaningfully simulated

Overall, employers expect 170 million new roles and 92 million displaced roles by 2030.

Why AI Takes Away Jobs

The jobs most at risk are routine, predictable, rules-based work regardless of skill level, including:

> Data processing and clerical and administrative positions like data entry clerks, cashiers and telemarketers

The shrinking jobs are concentrated in office and administrative support, retail, and transportation, much of it lower-paid work. Lower-wage workers are 7.6 times as likely as higher-wage workers to need a new occupation.

Pressure is amplified at entry-level. Within tech/information-processing roles, net creation over displacement is only eleven to nine million and 40% of respondents anticipate cutting headcount as AI can perform tasks.

The Catch: Net Gain Does Not Mean Painless

All reports stress the same caveat: "The next decade's challenge is mobility, not scarcity".

Even with net gains:

•In McKinsey's base case, about 11 million workers, roughly 7% of the workforce, would need to leave their occupations entirely - ranging from 6 to 16 million overall.

•About 770,000 people a year would need to make that kind of switch, roughly 3.6 times the historical average.

•Only one in seven displaced workers has a direct path into a growing job, nearly half face an "unpaved" path blocked by large skill gaps or credential requirements, and about 85% of growing jobs require a credential.

•About 76% of growing jobs can't be done remotely.

•39 per cent of core skills will likely change significantly over the next six years.

•The fact that there will be seventy-eight million more jobs globally does not provide comfort to individual workers whose hometown is centred around automation-susceptible employers.

Current data also shows nuance: Across 831 occupations, the BLS found no relationship between an occupation's AI exposure and whether employment is projected to grow or shrink.

Bottom Line

•In aggregate by 2030-2035: Studies lean toward AI creating slightly more jobs than it destroys - WEF +78 million net globally, McKinsey +5 million net in the US.

•For individuals and regions: AI will take away more opportunities in the short term for those in clerical, administrative, customer service, and routine cognitive work, especially lower-wage and entry-level workers, while creating more opportunities for those who can work with AI, in technical, healthcare, construction, management, and care roles.

> The honest answer is: probably yes over the long run [more created], but not for everyone, and not all at once

The outcome depends less on whether total jobs go up or down - evidence leans toward up - and more on how quickly retraining, credentialing, and geographic mobility can connect displaced workers to new openings.

Citations (3)

1linkedin.comSocial media and video
AI and the Future of Jobs
Backs: “Another summary puts it as while 92 million jobs might be eliminated by 2030, 170 million new roles will be created. The report frames this as 22% of today's jobs will be created or destroyed, with 14% newly created and 8% destroyed.”
2alphaleaders.co.ukNot yet classified
McKinsey: AI will create more jobs than it kills — after destroying 11 million
Backs: “The report frames this as 22% of today's jobs will be created or destroyed, with 14% newly created and 8% destroyed. In the U.S., McKinsey Global Institute's September 2025 base case finds a similar pattern to 2035: AI and automation will cut demand for about 36 million U.S.”
3hungarianconservative.comNot yet classified
Artificial Intelligence Creates More Jobs than It Replaces, Study Finds
Backs: “Rather than replacing entire professions, AI is automating repetitive tasks, augmenting human capabilities, and creating opportunities to focus on higher-value work. PwC's Global AI Jobs Barometer 2025, analyzing over 1 billion job postings, found that in occupations most exposed to AI, job numbers grew by 38 per cent…”