The chief investment officer at BlackRock is sounding the alarm over the impact of AI on the job market, warning that the next few years will be unlike anything previous technological transitions have produced.
In a new Bloomberg interview, Rick Rieder highlights that AI will spark a revolution never seen before.
But he notes that companies are leveraging the technology to boost productivity while reducing or maintaining headcount.
“How many companies, including yesterday, are announcing growth and CapEx spend, and saying we don’t need as many people…?
But I think productivity and employment are going to change. I’ve not heard anybody give me a good reason why, in the short term, the transition in terms of employment is not a difficult one… And the historic analogs don’t really work in what is a new era.”
According to Rieder, AI is moving so fast that it’s difficult for employees to learn new skills in order to adapt to the changing job market.
“For the next couple of years, some big industries — I always talk about driving and some others that employ a lot of people — that transition, that retraining, and the size and the speed that it’s happening will be dislocating certainly for a couple of years.”
Rieder also highlights that the job market disruption is happening at a time when the US is holding record-level debt levels, leaving policymakers with less flexibility to soften the blow.
“At the same time, we have a debt burden in the country that is compounding higher.”
The US national debt currently stands at nearly $39 trillion.
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