AI Eliminated Nearly 4,000 Jobs in May

The unemployment report for May 2023 issued by the Department of Labor shows that the US economy is clipping along. Employers added almost 400,000 jobs and revised estimates showing where more jobs were added for the two prior months, than previously reported. This is good job market news for new graduates.?

All this growth has come in the shadow of the Great Resignation despite high inflation, the many predictions of recession, and general jitters as the workforce unwinds from a major pandemic.

At The HBCU Career Center we know that even with all this progress, these job numbers are not giving solace to all workers. How can it, when, if you believe all the talk, job losses from artificial intelligence looms large over the next few years??

Studies show that there has been no slow down on the acquisition of new AI tools and technology investments. We can’t turn on the news without hearing about how ChatGPT is revolutionizing the communication space.??

In fact, ChatGPT could have generated this article faster than it took me to write it. Also, those with big microphones, like the Elon Musks of the world, are warning about the potential of “bad” AI run amuck.? Between the news and the noise, workers sometimes don’t know what to believe.?

Well, here is something you can believe.? For the first time, when reporting on the labor market data, the Department of Labor cited AI as the specific reason for the loss of almost 4000 US jobs in the June 2023 report.?

What does this mean?

Well for now, it means that workers should stay aware, but not panic.??

This was anticipated.??

This has been on the environmental horizon for years. With the clear value of AI in its ability to help improve worker productivity and lower costs, it would only make sense that many more companies will aim to capitalize on this advantage for profitability.? If jobs could be enhanced by the use of AI tools, then maybe not all jobs will be lost.?

However, as a society, we can’t minimize these job losses to being just about AI and robotics. Because while revolutionary for some industries, it will be personally painful for many workers and very impactful for families.

Here are a few data points to keep in mind as we transition into what the World Economic Forum calls this Fourth Industrial Revolution:

• Changes in the workplace have happened before and Americans have transitioned with the changes. The plain fact is that technology has improved lives and created more jobs than it has gotten rid of. If that trend continues, AI and Robotics will do the same.
• New technology does not always replace all workers.? The invention of the ATM, did not cause a direct drop in banking employees. However, existing jobs and processes did change.? Over the last decade the finance and banking industry has been revolutionized by things like Venmo, CashApp, Zelle, Apple Pay, PayPal etc.? all of which brought new jobs into the market place, and more importantly, added convenience to our daily lives. Management consultants, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, state that, “AI, robotics and other forms of smart automation have the potential to bring great economic benefits, contributing up to $15 trillion to global GDP by 2030.”
• There may be a gap between how people perceive AI in the general workplace and how they’d perceive the impact of AI and robotics in their own jobs and careers. Pew Research shows that while 62% of people believe artificial intelligence will have a major impact on workers? in the coming 20 years, only 28% of those workers believe the changes will impact them personally.??
• AI will continue to impact worker productivity. One MIT and Stanford University study shows that AI improved worker productivity at one company by 14%. Promises of that kind of increase will have more companies wanting to stay competitive.
• Given the current political landscape in the US, workers can’t necessarily rely on the lawmakers or legislators in Washington DC or state capitals to focus on the regulatory needs of consumers and workers. We are at the mercy of businesses for ethical AI adoption in this uncertainty.
• We are living in a new time of worker empowerment and so many of us as workers will have to figure it out for ourselves.? That means building a stronger personal orientation to keep learning and applying new skills while scanning the environment for potential impact. This is necessary? so that as workers and employees, we can mitigate the risk of job loss and those long term ramifications.

At The HBCU Career Center, we are not blind to the potential impact of AI and robotics on the future of work.? We talk about the changes openly in the HBCU community.

We know that this workplace change, like others before it, might disproportionately impact certain demographic groups that historically have less access to resources. It’s our goal at The HBCU Career Center to build resources to inform of these changes early provide support for upskilling.

Watch this space for more on AI’s disruption and how we will maneuver through it together.

Read more about the future of work here.