Banking, legal, and tech jobs most at risk for AI disruption

Unlike tech disruption waves past, the job displacement effects of generative AI are more likely to start in white-collar offices than on factory floors.

A new report from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and The Burning Glass Institute found that jobs in finance, legal, and tech fields are among those most exposed to the effects of a new wave of generative AI.

The report lists jobs like loan and mortgage brokers, law office workers, and some accounting roles as especially high-risk. Areas of tech like data processing and hosting services, software publishing, and custom computer programming were also listed as vulnerable.

While other technological changes have hit low-wage work especially hard, the report said these types of roles will likely remain relatively unscathed by AI.

“The GenAI automation wave is unique in that blue-collar workers may be the least harmed,” the report’s authors wrote. “The reasons for this are both increased demand for these workers due to the growth of premium goods and service categories and the inability of GenAI to perform physical tasks. In fact, the occupations most exposed to GenAI are high-wage, professional roles.”

AI’s flair for tasks like summarization, data retrieval, and drafting boilerplate text make it especially appealing to information-heavy industries like banking and financial services. Businesses that have explored generative AI have also found it useful for certain routine coding tasks.

The report’s authors do predict job losses in those sectors, but they also suspect the turmoil will ultimately only be a bump in the road. Because higher-wage jobs could be lost, the report reasons, executives could initially save more on payroll, which might ultimately translate into more hiring down the line.

“While those disruptions will carry a high human cost, they are likely to be only temporary,” the report said. “Corporate profits will increase as firms benefit from decreased payroll costs. In a competitive market, we expect price decreases to follow. Finally, price cuts and new jobs created by GenAI will drive increased demand, and employment will rebound, at least somewhat.”