How AI Is Replacing Middle-Class Careers
TECH
AI Growth and Corporate Profits Coincide with Job Losses
In 2024, the four largest technology companies in the United States leading the development of artificial intelligence reported combined earnings of nearly $268 billion. These financial gains have occurred alongside sweeping job reductions that have affected hundreds of thousands of workers—many of whom belonged to the middle class.
Despite widespread public attention on automation’s impact in manufacturing, the displacement of workers is expanding rapidly into white-collar sectors. Traditional middle-class professions—such as accounting, journalism, education, finance, and law—are being restructured by automation tools capable of performing complex cognitive tasks.
AI-driven platforms now generate news content, tutor students, process financial data, and draft legal documents. As AI systems increasingly match or exceed human performance in these areas, job opportunities for mid-skilled professionals continue to decline. A 2024 McKinsey report estimated that between 15% and 30% of white-collar working hours could be automated by the end of the decade.
Core Professional Roles Are Being Redefined by AI Systems
Many positions that once offered career stability and upward mobility—such as teacher, accountant, or copywriter—are now under threat. In accounting, AI platforms automate data processing and auditing; in journalism, algorithms write earnings and sports stories; in education, AI tutors reduce the need for personalized instruction by teachers.
In the legal field, systems can analyze case law, draft contracts, and evaluate risk, reducing the demand for paralegals and junior attorneys. In finance, algorithms replace analysts by tracking markets and generating investment strategies in real time. Graphic designers face similar disruption from generative tools that require no formal training yet produce professional-quality images.
As these tools expand their reach, the structure of middle-class careers is being dismantled. Entry-level positions that once served as training grounds are being eliminated. The classic model of gradually rising through a company—starting from junior roles and moving up based on experience—is eroding.
In programming, for example, GitHub Copilot can now automate the writing of basic code, significantly reducing demand for junior developers. These changes alter not only tasks but also the broader pathways for long-term employment and skill accumulation.
Corporate Layoffs and Wealth Concentration Accelerate the Shift
Layoffs connected to AI deployment are already visible across major sectors. In 2023, more than 260,000 workers were laid off from the tech industry, with many companies citing AI efficiencies as the reason. In early 2025, Meta eliminated approximately 3,600 jobs—about 5% of its global workforce.
Financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have implemented AI to automate client services, reducing the need for junior analysts—positions that traditionally provided access to middle-class incomes. As AI systems take over core business functions, companies are reallocating resources to maximize returns on technology rather than labor.
At the same time, economic data indicates that the benefits of productivity growth are increasingly accruing to capital owners. Between 1979 and 2022, labor productivity in the U.S. rose by 64.6%, but hourly compensation for the average worker increased by only 17.3%, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Wealth is becoming increasingly concentrated. Federal Reserve data shows that the richest 10% of Americans now own 70% of all national wealth. The middle class—defined as households with incomes between two-thirds and twice the median—held 62% of the country’s wealth in 1980 but just 43% by 2023.
These figures point to a widening economic divide driven in part by the rapid adoption of AI technologies in professional and administrative sectors.