Ai May Hurt Us Jobs More Than Expected Mckinsey Finds But There S A

Amid increasing fears over artificial intelligence taking over jobs in the modern economy, a new report from McKinsey Global Institute has shed light on how automation can affect the job market. Its latest research estimates that about 57% of the U.S. work hours could already be automated, and AI could fully take over more than 40% of the U.S. jobs. However, the report noted that AI will not necessarily eliminate jobs, but the future of work will be more of a collaboration between humans and AI agents. In its report titled "Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI," McKinsey distinguished jobs into physical and non-physical work.

The report noted that nonphysical work accounts for about two-thirds of the U.S. work hours, and while some of this work requires social and emotional skills that are beyond the reach of automation, the rest can be done by AI agents. Research suggests that the activities that can be automated represent about 40% of the U.S. wages and span across fields from education, healthcare, to business, and legal. These jobs currently offer an average pay of $70,000, and they involve tasks such as drafting documents that could be handled by AI systems. Furthermore, in manufacturing, tasks that take up 53% of the work hours, like directing automated manufacturing or logistics operations, can be fully handled by agentic AI.

The report suggests that automation can be furthered with the development of technologies that can match a range of human capabilities, including interpreting intention and emotion. However, that does not mean over half of the U.S. jobs would disappear over time, according to the report. Researchers noted that most human skills will endure and be applied differently in the future. Since 70% of the skills sought by employers are used in both automatable and non-automatable work, the human skills will remain relevant, but they will need to evolve. The report added that the AI era is not about replacing the human workforce but rather shifting the focus of human intelligence from execution to planning and judgment.

Citing the example of the calculator, the researchers argued that the invention did not replace mathematicians but freed them from applying themselves to solving higher-level problems. “Integrating AI will not be a simple technology rollout but a reimagining of work itself. Redesigning processes, roles, skills, culture, and metrics so people, agents, and robots create more value together," the report argued. However, the report added that even though the demand for labor in the U.S. has remained steady throughout waves of automation, the impact of AI may be different. "The outcome will depend on whether new demand, industries, and roles emerge to absorb displaced workers," a question that was out of the scope of the research.

A new report from McKinsey Global Institute tackles one of the most pressing fears of the modern economy: the sweeping job displacement threatened by artificial intelligence. While McKinsey’s research indicates that current technologies could, in theory, automate about 57% of U.S. work hours, the consulting firm concludes that this high figure measures technical potential in tasks, not the inevitable loss of jobs. Instead of mass replacement, the research by Lareina Yee, Anu Madgavkar, Sven Smit, Alexis Krivkovich, Michael Chui, María Jesús Ramírez, and Diego Castresana argues that the future of work will be defined by partnerships... Their report, “Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI,” emphasizes that capturing AI’s massive potential economic value—about $2.9 trillion in the U.S. by 2030—depends entirely on human guidance and organizational redesign.

The primary reason AI will not result in half the workforce being immediately sidelined is the enduring relevance of human skills. While they will be applied differently, McKinsey’s analysis shows a significant overlap in required capabilities: More than 70% of the skills sought by employers today are used in both automatable and non-automatable work. This suggests that as adoption advances, most skills will remain relevant, but how and where they are used will evolve. For example, highly specialized and automatable cognitive skills, such as routine accounting processes and specific programming languages, could face the greatest disruption. Yet even as AI takes over tasks like preparing documents and basic research, workers will still be required to apply their existing skills in new contexts, focusing instead on framing questions and interpreting results. Crucially, skills rooted in social and emotional intelligence—such as interpersonal conflict resolution, design thinking, and negotiation and coaching—will remain uniquely human, demanding empathy, creativity, and contextual understanding that are challenging for machines to replicate.

Furthermore, skills related to assisting and caring are likely to change the least. Work in the future will be a partnership between people, agents, and robots—all powered by artificial intelligence. While much of the current public debate revolves around whether AI will lead to sweeping job losses, our focus is on how it will change the very building blocks of work—the skills that underpin... Our research suggests that although people may be shifted out of some work activities, many of their skills will remain essential. They will also be central in guiding and collaborating with AI, a change that is already redefining many roles across the economy. In this research, we use “agents” and “robots” as broad, practical terms to describe all machines that can automate nonphysical and physical work, respectively.

Many different technologies perform these functions, some based on AI and others not, with the boundaries between them fluid and changing. Using the terms in this expansive way lets us analyze how automation reshapes work overall.1Our analysis considers a broader range of automation technologies than the narrow definition of agents commonly used in the AI... For more on how we define the term, see the Glossary. This report builds on McKinsey’s long-running research on automation and the future of work. Earlier studies examined individual activities, while this analysis also looks at how AI will transform entire workflows and what this means for skills. New forms of collaboration are emerging, creating skill partnerships between people and AI that raise demand for complementary human capabilities.

Although the analysis focuses on the United States, many of the patterns it reveals—and their implications for employers, workers, and leaders—apply broadly to other advanced economies. We find that currently demonstrated technologies could, in theory, automate activities accounting for about 57 percent of US work hours today.2Our analysis focuses exclusively on paid productive hours in the US workforce, encompassing full-time... We assess only the share of time awake that is spent on work-related activities, totaling roughly 45 percent of waking hours. Our analysis excludes time spent on unpaid tasks and leisure, but agents and robots could be used in related activities to support productivity and personal well-being. This estimate reflects the technical potential for change in what people do, not a forecast of job losses. As these technologies take on more complex sequences of tasks, people will remain vital to make them work effectively and do what machines cannot.

Our assessment reflects today’s capabilities, which will continue to evolve, and adoption may take decades. About 40 per cent of American jobs could be replaced by artificial intelligence, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute. The American consultancy’s analysis found that robots and AI agents could automate more than half of US work hours, both manual and cognitive, using technology that is available today, if companies redesigned how they... Most of the roles at risk involve the kinds of drafting, processing information and routine reasoning that AI agents can do. Hiring is slowing in some such jobs, such as among paralegals, administrative and office support workers and programmers, the research found. Similarly, dangerous, physical jobs, in warehouses or operating machines, are most likely to be replaced by robots, McKinsey said.

Conversely, a third of US jobs would be difficult to replace with AI because they have uniquely human attributes, such as nursing, the analysis found. Some 70 per cent of the tasks performed by carers and other healthcare workers require the kind of physical presence, empathy, care and dexterity that machines cannot replicate. AI’s Impact on US Jobs: Not a Takeover, But a Team-Up, Says New Report Worries about artificial intelligence stealing jobs have been buzzing lately, but a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute offers a more nuanced look at how automation might actually shake up the job market. While it sounds a bit intimidating, the research suggests that instead of a mass layoff, we might be looking at a future where humans and AI work side-by-side. McKinsey’s latest findings estimate that a whopping 57% of current U.S.

work hours could already be automated, with AI potentially taking over more than 40% of U.S. jobs entirely. However, the report, aptly titled “Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI,” clarifies that this doesn’t mean jobs will vanish into thin air. Instead, the focus is on a collaborative future. The study differentiates between physical and non-physical work, noting that non-physical tasks make up about two-thirds of U.S. work hours.

While some of these demand unique human social and emotional skills, a significant portion could be handled by AI. Consider this: activities ripe for automation currently represent around 40% of U.S. wages, spanning diverse fields like education, healthcare, business, and legal. These roles, which offer an average annual salary of $70,000, often involve tasks like drafting documents – prime candidates for AI intervention. https://www.finalroundai.com/blog/mckinsey-layoffs-tech-employees McKinsey & Company just cut 200 tech jobs globally this past week.

The firm says that as it increasingly adopts AI tools, it’s shifting more tasks to automated systems, especially non-client-facing or tech-support roles. The consulting firm warns that more cuts could come over the next 2 years. McKinsey issued this statement for these reductions: Here’s what’s been happening behind the scenes at McKinsey. For those concerned about AI's impact on the job market, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's recent announcement may add even more fuel to the fire. In a memo to Amazon employees on June 17, Jassy shared that the company plans to cut down their corporate workforce in the next few years due to "efficiency gains" from using AI.

"As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done," Jassy wrote. "We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs." Earlier this year, a World Economic Forum report found that 48% of U.S. employers plan to reduce their workforce because of AI. While not all recent job cuts have been directly linked to AI, several other major tech companies are also looking to reduce their headcount: in May, Microsoft announced that they plan to cut 3%...

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