The professional landscape is shaped by many factors, with both social and technological developments playing their part. The impact of AI on traditional professions is hard to deny, even though the exact scope of this impact is still uncertain. Over the years, there have been many attempts to predict which jobs will become obsolete due to technological advances, but most of these predictions are based on sheer speculation.
At the same time, attempts have also been made to back these speculations up with data. In 2022, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed factual job growth trends for the occupations deemed at risk of automation. In this post, we analyze 2024 job growth data from our recruiting database to see how SignalHire internal findings compare to BLS figures. The ultimate question is – which occupations are likely to become obsolete, what is the future of work and AI disruption?
Table of Contents:
Brief overview of the AI impact on the job market
As of 2024, it is impossible to deny AI’s influence on the job market; however, the immediate impact of AI on traditional professions is not so obvious.
According to Statista’s 2024 report, hiring managers worldwide already prioritize candidates with AI skills. Even industries traditionally slow to transform, such as banking, actively embrace the power of automation – according to Statista’s data, around half of the current banking activities have a high potential for automation. The same statement is true for insurance, tech, retail, and even healthcare – all of these industries are already transforming their operational routines.
At the same time, the global employment outlook remains optimistic, with 23% of businesses expecting AI to displace jobs and 49% anticipating the creation of new career opportunities between 2023 and 2027. Based on Statista’s global surveys, employees share similar feelings, with almost half of respondents anticipating a major transformation of their job responsibilities. The market situation, with change acting as the only constant, makes both employees and employers rethink their attitude toward soft skills, putting resilience and adaptability at the forefront of attention.
In the meantime, the AI market value isn’t just growing – it’s leaping. While in 2023, its total worth was estimated at $50 billion, in 2024, it had already exceeded $184 billion. The IT industry is the first to experience the immediate effects of the market transformation, with mass layoffs of low-skilled workers and dire talent shortages in more advanced roles. But, besides IT, which occupations and industries have been affected?
Jobs with potential decline due to AI impact
According to past predictions, the following occupations had the most room for automation and, so, stood the highest risk of getting replaced by AI.
Personal financial advisors
According to BLS data, robo-advisors that existed since the early 2000s would grow complex enough by the mid-2020s to replace human consultants. So far, AI algorithms have indeed proven themselves useful in providing financial advice. However, changing customer expectations also played a part in the occupational decline. As most bank users expect remote 24/7 assistance, along with convenient all-in-one payment platforms, AI assistants are simply more feasible than human staff.
Interpreters and translators
The demand for interpreters and, especially, translators has seen a rapid decline since the start of this decade. As AI grew more advanced with natural language processing, the demand for translators predictably declined. At the same time, the need for human editing of machine translation persists, and as more businesses go global, this occupation might see another peak before this decade is over.
Surgeons, except ophthalmologists
In 2022, BLS predicted a decline in surgeon jobs as robots were expected to carry out most of the routine operations. However, as of early 2025, we’re not quite there – our internal data shows a 32% increase in the number of global recruiter searches for surgeons. At the same time, BLS also reports a steady job growth in surgical occupations in 2024. The discrepancy is primarily caused by a major healthcare crisis and an aging population in most developing countries.
Fast food and counter workers
Another example of an occupation that has been steadily declining with the advances in robotics and automation. Besides using robotics in food preparation, food ordering largely happens remotely, which further decreases the need for human order processing. The COVID pandemic and the consequent spread of contactless delivery and takeout options accelerate the decline even further.
Janitors and cleaners
Similarly to the fast food industry, the cleaning segment is largely automated. Besides, social developments also encourage contactless cleaning where possible, while advances in IoT simplify the monitoring of buildings for leaks, spills, etc., thus eliminating the need for human janitors.
Maids and housekeeping cleaners
The exact same situation – affordable automation, IoT devices, and the need for contactless hygienic solutions – causes a steady decline in housekeeping jobs. Like most other low-skilled occupations on this list, this job is becoming economically obsolete due to the rising minimal wages and declining cost of housekeeping robots.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers
Landscaping and groundskeeping have always been prone to seasonal job fluctuations, but automation advances have moderated the demand even during high season. Robots successfully cope with irrigation and monitoring, the two all-year-round activities traditionally filled by low-skilled human labor.
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, Industrial truck and tractor operators
Similarly to surgeons, drivers and truck operators were supposed to be replaced by robots, but we haven’t gotten there yet. Our internal database shows a moderate 10% in the number of searches, whereas BLS also reports an average growth of 5%. Notably, the demand is lower than it used to be, but clearly, the occupation is still in demand.
Jobs with pre-existing decline reinforced by AI
Some occupations have already shown signs of decline before the mass adoption of AI; however, the spread of technology keeps impacting them further.
Loan officers
Similarly to finance advisors, the demand for loan consulting services has been steadily declining. The introduction of AI-powered systems that analyze credit risks and automatically approve or decline customers’ loan requests contributes to further decline. Right now, the job growth is already slower than average and is likely to slow down further.
Computer programmers, Software developer, Software engineer
Even though software development job growth is still faster than average, the figures pale in comparison to earlier years when all the coding was done by humans. Today’s AI and ML progress, however, eliminates the need for low-quality code and other low-skill IT tasks, as exemplified by the mass tech layoffs of 2023.
Lawyers
The demand for lawyers has been growing faster than average for years, which predictably led to market oversaturation. Just like software development, the occupation is now experiencing a minor decline, with the average job growth indicators. AI tech, automating most of the routine legal paperwork, also contributes to this decline.
Paralegals and legal assistants
Currently, BLS reports a 1% job growth for paralegals and legal assistants, which is slower than average. However, based on our internal data, this occupation showed a slight increase compared to the last year. So far, it looks like law companies are looking for paralegals with AI skills to help them leverage the technology – so it might be another example of an occupation reshaped rather than replaced by AI.
News analysts, reporters, journalists
Pre-existing job decline in news analysts, reporters, and journalists occupations is due to a shift in advertising revenues and the rise of independent digital platforms. However, automated content generation further stimulates the decline, eliminating the need for low-skilled writing without a real creative or analytical angle.
Public relations specialists
One more example of an occupation that has been affected by the rise of digital channels, social media, and, eventually, influencer marketing. Today, AI’s advanced capabilities for predictive market analysis and content creation further aggravate this already obvious decline.
Cashiers
The rise of e-commerce platforms and contactless checkouts in physical stores contributed to a considerable decline in cashier jobs. Further introduction of AI for optimizing workflows and emphasizing flexibility in human staffing also lessen the need for strictly cashier-focused staff, adding to the changing future of work and AI disruption of low-skilled labor.
Customer service representative
The demand for customer service representatives has been declining since the adoption of remote and outsourcing work models. Outstaffing and shifting from phones to the web already covered most business needs, lessening the local demand for support reps. Now that chatbots can handle the majority of routine customer queries, the demand is literally plummeting.
Welders
Curiously, our database showed a slight job increase in welding occupations. This could be another sign that AI cannot fill in all the manual tasks – at least, not now. BLS also reports some modest growth despite the previous decline. This could mean that welding (at least complex, non-routine ones) will be carried out by humans, after all.
Jobs positively affected by AI
At the same time, AI development was supposed to spur the demand for the following occupations:
- Director of Marketing
- Product Manager
- Customer Experience Specialist
- Machine Learning Specialist
- AI Specialist
- Data Engineer, Data Scientist
While the increased demand for data scientists and AI specialists should be self-explanatory, the anticipated job growth in marketing and customer care professions was tied to changed customer expectations and the need to make advertising offers even more personalized. Our internal data largely supports these predictions – even though the 2024 demand for ML and AI specialists was lower than the year before. The same stands for product managers.
Notably, our findings are based on SignalHire’s internal database, which is mostly used by recruiters, marketers, and business developers. Most of our users work either in the fully digital or phygital sphere, so a slight decline could be a sign that the main staffing crisis is over, and most openings have already been filled last year. So, this does not mean that the global market demand for given occupations is declining.
Conclusion
While genAI renders some jobs obsolete, especially routine and repetitive tasks traditionally filled with low-skilled labor, the same technology also creates new career opportunities in the high-skill and creative job sector. As of now, literally, every industry is affected by the spread of AI, with businesses across different sectors rethinking their routines to embrace all the benefits of AI-powered automation.
Clearly, this spurs the demand for specific occupations, but not all of the in-demand jobs are tech- and AI-related. According to our recent analysis, human and management skills are needed more than ever. For more information, check out our post on the ten most in-demand jobs in mid-2024. Also, stay tuned for more market-related analytics on our blog because, with today’s technology pace, new updates are sure to come in soon!
