Dive Brief:

• While most U.S. workers aren’t afraid their jobs will be replaced by technology, the fear of becoming obsolete, or “FOBO,” has grown more in the past two years than at any time during Gallup’s polling of the issue since 2017, the analytics firm said about the results of an August telephone survey.
• Fewer than 1 in 4 of the more than 1,000 workers surveyed are concerned about being replaced by AI, but the number of those who are rose by 7% since 2021. The increase is mainly due to college-educated workers, Gallup said: One-fifth say they’re worried, a jump from 8% two years ago. Concern among workers under 55 has also risen. Almost 3 in 10 of those ages 18 to 34 and more than one-fifth of workers ages 35 to 54 expressed concern, both groups up from 17% in 2021.
• Income is also a factor: 27% of those who make less than $100,000, compared to 17% of those who make $100,000 or more, are uneasy about technology making their job obsolete. Even so, retaining pay and benefits remains workers’ biggest concern. According to the survey, about a third, 31%, fear they’ll lose their job benefits in the near future, and nearly a quarter, 24%, worry about having their wages reduced.

Dive Insight:

With the release of ChatGBT last November, the stereotype of what computers can do in the workplace is no longer focused on robots replacing warehouse and assembly line workers, Gallup said.

Instead, generative AI “has expanded to online programs conducting sophisticated language-based work,” understandably making some workers, particularly those with college degrees, worried about what the technology means for their careers, the firm said.

Employers can address this concern in several ways. For one, they can embrace AI in their learning and development initiatives, crucial for building organizational resilience, a talent exec recently stated. Also, as many companies plan to do, according to research by TalentLMS, employers can invest in AI training tools to help with upskilling and reskilling, another source of employee stress.

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