tech sector data from 2024-25

Artificial Intelligence

# The US labor market is automating and becoming more flexible

Apr 25, 2024

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The US labor market is being shaped by three intersecting trends: two of them long-term and the third cyclical. [Generative artificial intelligence](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/ai-may-start-to-boost-us-gdp-in-2027) is poised to automate nearly a quarter of jobs across all industries. The effects of AI will be felt on a workforce that is already “fractionalized,” in which part-time roles supplement or replace full-time ones.

Those two megatrends feed into a slowing job market. Goldman Sachs Research expects US unemployment to rise over the next 12 months. In combination, these three forces will profoundly change how US companies recruit and retain talent in the near future.

How AI will transform staffing and recruiting

Around 4% of all US firms have adopted generative AI, but Goldman Sachs Research expects that figure to rise to 7% over the next six months. The rapid clip will be led by some sectors more than others. In information services, for instance, the adoption rate is forecast to rise from 16% to 23% in that half-year period.

The effects of this shift will be seen clearly in online job marketplaces. Some types of work, such as logo design, copywriting, translation, or voice-over artistry, could be displaced by free or cheap AI tools in those categories. “That said, it is just as likely that new types of jobs or categories will be created as a result of AI,” writes George Tong, a senior research analyst at Goldman Sachs Research, in his team’s report.

[Generative AI](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/ai-poised-to-begin-shifting-from-excitement-to-deployment-in-2024) can also improve the efficiency of recruiters in tasks such as enhancing job descriptions, formatting resumes, ranking candidates, and conducting initial interviews. “Screening applicant information such as resumes remains inefficient, with approximately 52% of talent acquisition leaders stating that the most challenging element of recruiting is candidate identification from large pools,” Tong writes.

AI labor - by apps

March 2024

Next six months

0%50%40%30%20%10%5%45%35%25%15%Augmented realityNeural networksBiometricsRobotics process automationDeep learningMachine/computer visionDecision making systems based on AIImage/pattern recognitionRecommendation systems based on AILarge language modelsMachine learningOtherSpeech/voice recognition using AIData analytics using AIText analytics using AINatural language processingVirtual agents or chat b

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