Even your boss is worried about being replaced by AI

Employees across several different fields have grown increasingly concerned that AI might take their jobs, and now you can add managers to the list. A new survey from Harris Poll and the American Staffing Association, released today, found that 44% of those in managerial and professional jobs believed automation could easily replace their jobs.

Altogether 47% of the more than 2,000 survey respondents agreed that machines could easily put them out of jobs. That’s a pretty significant increase from 2017 when only 27% of workers surveyed thought automation, including robots and AI, could replace their positions. In the latest survey, even 39% of healthcare workers thought their jobs could be replaced by machines. The vast majority of respondents—74%—believe that increased automation will lead to higher unemployment.

In general, younger generations seemed most concerned about their own positions. About 55% of Gen Z and millennial employees were convinced that their jobs could easily be replaced by automation, while 41% of Gen Xers and just 26% of baby boomers thought the same. 

Despite fears, a majority of those surveyed were still optimistic AI could help them at work, although the level of enthusiasm differed across job levels: 73% of C-suite bosses and 65% of senior managers agreed that automation in the workplace is a good thing for workers, while just 51% of individual contributors concurred. 

The results seem to echo a recent study done by Pew Research Center, which found that jobs with a high level of exposure to AI tend to be higher-paying positions for which a college education and analytic skills are often needed to perform effectively. According to Pew, workers with a bachelor’s degree or more are twice as likely as those with only a high school diploma to have their jobs disrupted by technology.