Zety, a leading career and resume service, today announced the findings from its AI in the Workplace Report, revealing the use of AI has already been adopted by a large portion of the workforce (71%). The study also found that fear of job loss as a result of AI integration has come to fruition, with a startling 25% of respondents stating they have already lost their job due to AI. 

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Polling 1,150 people across the U.S., the AI in the Workplace Report found extremely high AI adoption rates in the workplace, with a significant percentage of those surveyed already using AI at work. When accounting for personal usage, use of AI among participants increased even higher. 

  • 23% use AI for both work and personal use 
  • 48% use AI, like ChatGPT, at work 
  • 28% use AI only for personal use 
  • Only 1% of those surveyed said they do not use AI 

Greatest AI Fears Realized 

In addition to rising AI usage, concerns over losing one’s job to emerging technology run high. Of the 89% of respondents that reported a fear of losing their job to AI, a quarter of those respondents have already experienced job loss due to AI at their workplace.  

“The idea of losing your job as a result of companies incorporating AI into daily activities has been a regular topic of discussion and growing concern among the workforce,” said Dominika Kowalska, career expert for Zety. “The advent of AI is still a relatively new development and it’s alarming that so many individuals in the survey have already experienced the worst case scenario when it comes to AI – being replaced by technology and forced to find a new job.” 

The survey results suggest that younger workers, likely in entry-level positions, are most at-risk for AI related job loss. 

  • 43% of people 25 or younger in the study say that they have already lost a job because of AI 
  • 27% of people between the ages of 26-40 have lost a job because of AI 
  • 19% of people over the age of 41 reported losing a job because of AI 

Race to Stay Ahead of the Curve  

While the workforce has not had a lengthy amount of time and experience using AI tools, the study uncovered that the vast majority of participants are extremely eager to grow and develop their AI expertise. 

  • Only 5% of those surveyed have been using AI since 2021 
  • 8% began using AI in 2022 
  • The majority of respondents (60%) started using AI in 2023  
  • 26% did not start using AI until 2024 
  • Only 1% of respondents said they still have yet to use AI 

Most participants have a year or less of experience using AI tools, but the study also shows that employees are making a concerted effort to seek out training to grow their technical skills and stay ahead of the curve. When asked if they are going through a training program or taking other steps to develop or expand AI skills, a significant majority (95%) said “yes.”  

When surveyed on interest level in developing new AI skills, the desire to become AI-savvy grows even clearer. 

  • 53% of participants are very interested in developing new AI skills 
  • 47% said they are at least somewhat interested in developing new AI skills
  • Not a single person surveyed (0%) reported no interest in developing AI skills 

“Becoming familiar with AI tools, developing your technical skills and identifying opportunities to begin working with AI in your current job are critical steps to coming out on top as AI begins to have a profound effect on the workplace,” said Kowalska. “It’s clear that people have recognized this wave of change is on its way and learning, training and adapting is the smartest path forward.”  

Methodology

The findings provided were gathered through a survey conducted with 1,150 American respondents on March 11–12, 2024. Participants were queried about AI and job searching, responding to various question types, including yes/no questions, open-ended questions, scale-based questions gauging agreement levels, and questions that permitted the selection of multiple options from a list of answers.