Will Your Job be Obsolete?

Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) has increased more in the past two years than at any time since 2017, according to Gallup’s Aug. 1-23 Work and Education poll.

22% now say technology will make their job obsolete—up seven percentage points from 2021. The highest level of worry is attributable to college-educated workers. Their percentage number jumped from 8% to 20%. Concern has grown more among younger than older workers and for those making less than $100,000.

The top issue for workers is the loss of benefits (31%), followed by a reduction in wages (24%). It’s not just strong-armed robots causing this fear; it’s also developments in mimicking human language, as with ChatGPT.

For now, however, less than 25% think the threat is imminent.