More than half of Americans — 53% — fear artificial intelligence could cost them or someone in their household a job, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds.
The findings come as companies ramp up AI investments while trimming their workforces, fueling concern across demographics. Anxiety about job losses was consistent across age, gender and education levels, though Democrats were more likely than Republicans to express concern.
The six-day poll of 4,531 U.S. adults nationwide followed a wave of AI-related job cuts by major companies. Software firm Intuit told staff last month it would lay off 17% of its global workforce to streamline operations and sharpen focus on its key bets including its AI efforts.
An April Challenger, Gray & Christmas report found U.S. employers announced 60,620 layoffs in March and AI adoption was the primary reason behind a quarter of the cuts.
Last year, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told CNBC the Swedish fintech company reduced its workforce by 40% while Ford CEO Jim Farley said AI will “replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.”
Jennifer Schalhoub, a 62-year-old freelance writer in Little Ferry, New Jersey, told Reuters she recently lost her job writing letters to government officials to advocate for specific policies, a loss that she suspects the rise of AI had a role in.
“AI is taking over because people care less and less about the quality of the work that gets produced,” Schalhoub said.
AI Faces Cultural Backlash
Artificial Intelligence technology has faced backlash and its potential use as a tool of political propaganda, in entertainment and even warfare has prompted warnings by elected leaders and even Pope Leo XIV.
On May 25, the Catholic Church published Leo’s encyclicals where he said that what is needed for AI “is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating.”
University of Arizona students booed Eric Schmidt last month when the former Google CEO discussed AI’s impact at a graduation ceremony.
The backlash comes as young job seekers are having a hard time obtaining entry-level jobs.
A Cengage Group survey found 76% of employers reported hiring for fewer or the same number of entry-level roles in 2025, up from 69% in 2024. A Federal Reserve Bank of New York study found 42% of recent college graduates are “underemployed,” the highest level since 2020, meaning they are working jobs that don’t typically require a college degree.
While AI is not the only factor in tightened hiring, Peter Watkins, senior director of university programs at the CFA Institute, previously told USA TODAY that the technology is playing a role.
“If firms are looking to make resource reductions, AI starts to become a solution for that, whereas in another economic climate, they’d probably be using it more in terms of innovation and growth,” Watkins said.
Contributing: Reuters
