BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder warns that more lower-skilled jobs will disappear in the coming years, and it’s not because of widespread AI deployment.
In a new interview on The Meb Faber Show, Rieder lays out a sobering view of what he sees unfolding over the next two to three years as companies fight to protect margins in a slowing growth environment.
The BlackRock executive predicts incoming job losses fueled by Corporate America’s appetite to drive productivity gains across everyday business operations.
“The lower-skilled jobs are going away. And I think it’s a travesty, and it’s not anybody’s fault. I think that is the evolution, and today it’s not AI. It’s productivity through inventory management, logistics, predictive maintenance, client procurement… You can go across the board and in every earnings report.”
He explains that the pressure intensifies when revenue growth slows but remains positive, pushing management teams to focus aggressively on cost discipline rather than expansion.
“Companies say, ‘Okay, my top line revenue is not growing as fast as it used to. It’s still okay, but okay. But if I can keep my margins up, I get my cost of goods sold down. I get my SG&A down. I get my human capital lower.’”
Rieder says the result is a disconnect between headline economic resilience and what is happening beneath the surface of the labor market.
“Because there’s so much money in the higher income and in older savers, that consumption in aggregate is still pretty good. But I think we have a problem and I think it’s a social problem.”
Looking ahead, he warns that the employment challenge may persist even if financial conditions ease.
“I think that’s going to be the story of the next two or three years, that we have a hard time employing the number of people that we should employ.”
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