Global Survey Shows AI Job-Loss Fears Rising in 34 of 37 Countries

Public anxiety about artificial intelligence displacing workers has reached new heights across wealthy nations, according to fresh survey data that is prompting technology executives to call for urgent investment in workforce retraining.

Pew Research Center released findings Thursday showing that residents in 34 of 37 countries surveyed expect AI to reduce the total number of available jobs over the next two decades rather than expand employment opportunities. The research covered 42,151 people across 36 countries between February and May, plus two additional U.S.-focused surveys conducted in February and June.

U.S. concern climbs to 71%

In the United States, roughly 71% of adults now predict AI will eliminate jobs over the next 20 years—a seven-percentage-point increase from two years ago. The shift is particularly pronounced among younger Americans: the share of 18-to-34-year-olds who say they are more concerned than excited about AI has jumped from 40% to 55% since 2024.

Similar patterns emerged in other high-income economies. Australia and South Korea both saw approximately seven in ten adults or more predict AI-driven job losses. Across nearly every country surveyed, respondents were more likely to believe AI would widen economic inequality than narrow it. Not a single country reached even 25% of adults expecting AI to make wealth distribution more equal.

Why it matters

The Pew data arrives as enterprises accelerate AI deployment without corresponding workforce development programs. The gap between technology spending and human capital investment creates both operational risk—workers unable to adapt to new tools—and reputational exposure as public skepticism hardens. Companies that treat AI rollout purely as a technology project rather than an organizational transformation may face resistance from employees and customers alike.

Tech leaders respond with reskilling push

Business executives attending the WSJ Tech Council Summit this week acknowledged the urgency. McKinsey & Co. senior partner Kate Smaje, who leads the firm's global technology and AI practice, told attendees that companies must reframe AI adoption as a people transformation. "For every one dollar I'm spending on the technology, am I spending an equal and opposite dollar on the change management, the reskilling and upskilling?" she asked.

Global sentiment on AI remains divided overall. Across all 37 countries, a median of 37% of respondents reported being more concerned than excited about expanded AI use in daily life, while 41% said they felt equally concerned and excited. Israel was the sole country where more people described themselves as primarily excited than primarily concerned.

Year-over-year concern grew most sharply in Sweden (up nine percentage points), Poland (up eight points), the Netherlands (up seven points), Hungary (up six points), and Australia (up four points), according to the Pew data.

The findings were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.