Globally, More People Expect AI to Cause Job Loss Than Growth

🎯 Impact Sentiment: Concerning

📋 Summary

• A Pew Research Center report published on 17 September 2026 found that in 34 of 37 countries surveyed, people tend to believe AI will lead to fewer jobs rather than more; the study covered 42,151 respondents across 36 countries plus separate US surveys.
• Worry is highest in wealthier nations: in countries such as Australia, South Korea and the United States, around seven-in-ten adults or more say AI will result in job loss over the next 20 years.
• In the US — the only country where Pew had asked the question before — the share holding this view has risen 7 percentage points in two years, with the increase largest among adults aged 18 to 34.
• Respondents also expect AI to widen economic inequality rather than narrow it: no country had more than one-in-four saying AI would decrease the rich-poor gap, and in 29 nations that figure was in single digits.

💡 JR Insights

• 💼 Implication: Public expectation of AI-driven job loss is now the global default rather than a fringe view, which shapes how employers talk about automation and gives workers broader legitimacy when raising concerns about AI adoption.
• 🚨 Risk: Pessimism is concentrated among young adults in high-income countries — precisely the group entering the labour market — and such expectations can become self-fulfilling if they steer people away from fields that are in fact still hiring.
• ✨ Takeaway: Treat sentiment data as a signal about perception, not destiny: verify with actual hiring and pay data for your own occupation (job postings, wage trackers) before making a career decision based on the prevailing mood.