AI's Workforce Impact Has Only Just Begun
CIO, Tuesday, March 10th, 2026
Hiring avoidance, role collapse - AI will have a major impact on 32 million jobs per year as it transforms how employees work, Gartner predicts. Workflow-focused IT roles are those most at risk.
High-profile companies such as Block have laid off thousands of employees in recent months, with many saying AI has taken over worker tasks.
While AI's long-term impact on jobs and the job market remains uncertain, IT analyst firm Gartner expects more job chaos in the coming years due to AI, predicting that 32 million jobs will be significantly transformed by AI each year in the near term. Ultimately the firm projects that AI will create more jobs than it replaces starting in 2028 or 2029.
Many IT jobs will be among those transformed by AI, says Nate Suda, an analyst on Gartner's AI strategy team. The jobs most at risk are those focused on workflows, including service desk roles, business analysts, and project managers, he adds.