AI isn’t just coming for low-wage or entry-level jobs—it could erase nearly 100 million of them across the U.S. over the next decade. That’s according to a new report from Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) that warns that “artificial labor” could upend the economy faster than the world is prepared for.
Fast-food and customer service workers could see more than 80% of their roles disappear, while even high-skilled jobs like accounting, software development, and nursing will also likely face sharp cuts.
Business leaders like Ford CEO Jim Farley and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have sounded similar alarms about the crisis facing white-collar workers in particular, but Sanders’ report marks one of the strongest warnings yet from Capitol Hill about AI’s threat to the workplace. And while 100 million may seem like a large number, he admitted it could still be an underestimate.
“It’s not just economics,” Sanders wrote in an op-ed for Fox News in conjunction with the report release. “Work, whether being a janitor or a brain surgeon, is an integral part of being human. The vast majority of people want to be productive members of society and contribute to their communities. What happens when that vital aspect of human existence is removed from our lives?”
Tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg stand to profit the most from AI, Sanders said, as technology allows for the replacement of more expensive human labor. And because the AI rollout is occurring in nearly every sector, pivoting to a new career will become increasingly impossible—and the report slammed the idea that the new technology will unlock new AI jobs.
“Artificial labor could not only put millions of people out of work from their existing job. It could also replace new jobs that could have been created. A factory worker who loses their job cannot be told to learn to code if artificial labor also takes the coding job.”
Fortune reached out to Senator Sanders for further comment.
Leaders agree: AI will kill the need for a 40-hour workweek
There’s one area where Sanders and many business leaders surprisingly agree: the future of work could mean fewer hours on the clock.
Executives from Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon have predicted that advances in AI will shorten the traditional workweek, while Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has gone even further—saying humans may soon not be needed “for most things,” and that workers may only need to work two days a week within the next decade.
But the 84-year-old senator warns that even if those predictions are only predictions that are partially true, it could leave millions of Americans with no way to earn a living.
“What happens to the tens of millions of Americans who no longer have employment because they can’t find jobs that don’t exist?” Sanders questioned in his op-ed. “In this brave new world, how do these Americans pay for health care, food, housing and the other necessities of life?”
To ease that transition, Sanders is proposing a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay.
“Today, American workers are over 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s. Yet, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages than they were decades ago. A 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay would reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life,” the report said.
While Sanders did not say who he thinks should pick up the bill, he noted that corporate profits and CEO salaries continue to grow while worker wages have stagnated. Some billionaires, including Elon Musk and Vinod Khoslam, have suggested a universal basic income could be the solution.
Some Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have taken a different tone—telling Axios that the overregulation of AI could stifle innovation or U.S. competitiveness.
But despite his concerns, Sanders acknowledged AI will also likely bring many societal productivity benefits; after all, his own staff used ChatGPT to help compile the list of jobs most at risk of replacement.
“Bottom line: AI and robotics will bring a profound transformation to our country,” Sanders wrote. “These changes must benefit all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.
