One Million Jobs, Zero Apocalypse: How AI Is Outpacing Layoffs and Rewriting the Labor Market

Townhall ^ | 09/08/2026 | Dmitri Bolt

[SeekAndFind]

The panicans, thus far, have been proven wrong once again. 

Despite mass bipartisan fears of an unemployment crisis thanks to the technological advancements made in artificial intelligence, advancements in AI have created about one million American jobs, according to The Economist, readily outpacing the about 200,000 layoffs attributed to AI in the same period. In other words, technological advancements have yet again proven to be a net producer of jobs.

🚨 The Economist: AI has already created around 1 MILLION American jobs.

From skilled trades to high-tech roles, AI is proving to be a net job creator.

pic.twitter.com/wKzAkg35wW— Innovation Council (@innovationcncl) September 8, 2026

These jobs aren’t confined to the tech sector, either. Like with most other technological advancements, the employment boom driven by artificial intelligence has spilled into trade and blue-collar industries alongside the usual tech roles. 

Massive spending on data centers and power generation has supercharged hiring for electricians, HVAC and plumbing workers, utility-system builders, commercial construction crews, and electrical-equipment manufacturers. Employment across core data-center-related industries has surged by roughly 320,000 jobs above trend since 2023, and the BLS projects utilities will be the fastest-growing sector through 2035. 

At the same time, a new class of professional roles, engineers, software developers, mathematicians, data scientists, and related occupations, has exploded by about 730,000 jobs above trend since 2022. LinkedIn’s analysis points to roughly 640,000 new AI-specific jobs between 2023 and 2025.

Even young workers, who many expected to be the first employment casualty of AI, are faring far better than the doom-and-gloom would suggest. With unemployment at just 4.1 percent, the overall job market is too strong for any one group to be in terrible shape. Plus, the usual gap between youth and overall unemployment has shrunk to several decade lows, yet another positive sign indicative of young adult labor market strength. If AI were wiping out entry-level jobs, that gap would be widening.

Narrative violation: According to the Economist, AI has created 1 million new jobs in the U.S.

https://t.co/Iu8Yj7EW1u pic.twitter.com/0Do4es4lxO— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) September 8, 2026

The numbers thus far point to a brighter future ahead for America, with an economy increasingly driven by artificial intelligence in both production and labor. As many who believe in free-market economics were quick to point out, technology always creates jobs people wouldn’t have been able to fathom just a generation earlier. That not only tracks with all of human history, but reflects the core belief in adaptation that underlies free-market principles. 

History, once again, has so far proven victorious.

[packagingguy]

You have to know your subject to effectively use AI.

AI cannot make a carpenter, physicist, chemist or attorney out of an untrained person.

I use AI for chemistry a lot and am constantly having to correct it.

[jerod]

Is this story real... Or is it AI? Who knows?

[chud]

AI cannot make a carpenter, physicist, chemist or attorney out of an untrained person.

Well, actually...several months ago I was talking to a guy who came to service my air conditioner. It turned out I knew him from years ago when our sons were in Scouting together.

I was talking to him about how a lot of my friends in I.T. were being laid off because of A.I., and I told him that HVAC must be a good area to be in, since AI can't do that job.
He replied, "Well, actually, we have an AI for troubleshooting issues." He then told me that the more senior guys don't use it much because they have the necessary experience, but the young guys use it quite a bit.

[Bobbyvotes]

Yes, none of the suggestions AI gave me on how to house break my puppy dog worked. I even installed a string mounted bell on the exit door to backyard. My Maltese puppy dog was scared of the bell sound and ran in opposite direction.

[srmanuel]

In every leap forward in technology, there is always skepticism and predictions of Armageddon then after a number of years, the exact opposite happens, great leaps forward in technology produces economic growth and increases in employment.

I point to the transportation system it the USA.

At one time it took months to travel from the east to the west coast of the USA via horse and buggy or stagecoach.

Along comes rail and you could travel from the east coast to the west coast in a few days or a couple of weeks at most.

Then someone realizes that loading people onto planes can get people from NY to California in a matter of hours

At the same time, we built the Interstate Highway system which allows someone in a car to drive from coast to coast in a few days, which has made train travel an afterthought for most people.

This change has turned the train industry into primarily a cargo movement industry versus people transportation industry.

In AI what will happen is a relatively small number of people will use AI to create or bring back old industries and that will lead to a massive increase in overall employment.

Barriers of entry into industry will get broken down, the movie making industry for example will get radically changed IMO, in the future a small number of people compared to today will be able to make full length Hollywood quality movies for a fraction of the cost of today’s movies which will lead to a massive number of possibilities.

The last thing we need to do is to listen to the Bernie Sanders types or anyone else calling for a halt to AI development which is akin to someone calling for a halt to air travel because it’s detrimental to the train industry.

[RckyRaCoCo]

I’ve been using AI for an airline timetable project, it likes to go in the weeds looking for crayfish.

[FrankRizzo890]

I am a professional reverse engineer and AI has become a tool for us. It gets an idea, and runs it to the end, but if that doesn’t provide the solution you asked for it likes to throw its hands up. It’s my job to point it in a different direction, and let it run that to the end. It’s like a marble rolling across a round table. You have to occasionally put your hand at the edge to bump it back across the table.

It has done some amazing things, but thus far, not without my help. Sometimes significant help.

[know.your.why]

To quote Elon Musk...”Anywhere that atoms need to be moved from one place to another is safe from AI technology...for now”.

[Cronos]

i work in the AI field.

AI isn’t going to take the jobs of those with 3+ years of experience.

but it IS gutting the jobs of beginners - and that is a problem.

[FLT-bird]

I can tell you in Banking the jobs apocalypse for new hires as well as for contractors is in full bloom. Its awful.

[MMusson]

Sooner or later, Management is going to expect that the HUGE investment in AI must show real returns. That’s when they will start firing people.

[Paul R.]

Some interesting studies regarding employment and AI have been done, including one in Texas, IIRC: It showed little overall gain in employment outside of the construction sector, however, I think this is the sort of thing that needs a long time frame to properly evaluate.

It is certainly true that if a big data center goes into a rural area, the jobs gains locally can be a very big deal.

Even if one assumes there is no medium term net jobs gain, there are huge other factors to consider: Long term competitiveness across the board, for example, and that most certainly DOES include National Security and Defense.

As an aside, I was amused about the irony of asking AI if AI was a positive or negative for employment. :-)

[ClearCase_guy]

Getting rid of new hires and entry level jobs is like eating the seed corn. A lot of industries (banking probably more than most) are limiting the hiring for entry level jobs. And these industries decided years ago that Middle Management “didn’t add value”, so those jobs have already been hollowed out.

Now, if you are a seasoned expert, at the top of your game, with 20 or 30 years experience, you would be a crucial part of the AI transition. You can steer the AI, train the AI, fix the errors made by the AI, because you truly know how the business really needs to run. That’s great.

What happens when the AI system breaks down, or the seasoned experts retire? The seed corn was eaten and never planted. What human will come along to assist? No one was trained. No one has been rising up through the ranks. Sure, if the AI systems can “do it all perfectly”, then humans are not needed, but it’s not at all clear that we have reached that point. I think we are going to have a lot of humans who never really got hired and trained to add value. And we are going to feel that loss.

[Adder]

supercharged hiring for electricians, HVAC and plumbing workers, utility-system builders, commercial construction crews,

Temporary and short term. Once the build out is complete, only a fraction of those jobs will remain.

[FLT-bird]

Many of those middle management people with 20-25 years experience in banking are contractors. They’re not being hired and haven’t been for the last 2 years. H1b’s already hollowed out the entry level positions years ago.

Right now the workforce is some very seasoned Americans in more senior and upper middle management roles. H1bs. AI.

[Brian Griffin]

Dear Probably Caucasian Investor:

We squandered your retirement funds on data centers built by Hispanics and filled with Chinese equipment installed by Asian Indians.

The CEOs

[ClearCase_guy]

Right now the workforce is some very seasoned Americans in more senior and upper middle management roles.

Yup. Maybe that's good for now, but it's not really sustainable. People die or retire. There's no one really on the bench ready to step up and replace them.

[FreedomPoster]

Some interesting comments here.

[Chickensoup]

What happens when the AI system breaks down, or the seasoned experts retire? The seed corn was eaten and never planted. What human will come along to assist? No one was trained. No one has been rising up through the ranks. Sure, if the AI systems can “do it all perfectly”, then humans are not needed, but it’s not at all clear that we have reached that point. I think we are going to have a lot of humans who never really got hired and trained to add value. And we are going to feel that loss.

.......

We have already done this in manufacturing and are doing it in health care... logistics...name them!