IS AI KILLING JOBS, OR IS A TIGHT LABOR MARKET KILLING AI?

“AI will eliminate all jobs” declared Elon Musk, and not a few economic analysts have echoed his prediction. How ironic then, that a primary obstacle to the growth of AI and its requisite data centers is an extreme shortage of skilled tradespeople. According to a recent analysis by Kathryn Clay for the Washington Post, “…workforce shortages are now a primary constraint on AI and energy expansion. Skilled trades – especially electricians, line workers, and welders – are limiting how quickly data centers and supporting energy infrastructure can be deployed”.

AI will undoubtedly eliminate some jobs, change many, and, as is the case even with the build out of AI infrastructure, create new jobs. Yet clearly, even in this relatively slow economy, the declining U.S. birth rate and an aging workforce – further undermined by the dramatic disruption of federal immigration policy – are combining to frustrate many industries today who cannot find, hire, and train employees fast enough to keep up with demand.

Of course, hiring has slowed somewhat in many white-collar industries, but others continue to find it difficult to find and keep talent in our “forever-tight” labor market. In the construction sector, surveys show that more than 90 percent of companies are having a difficult time filling vacancies. And many industries that are dependent upon immigrant workers, like food processing and meatpacking, trucking and logistics, and home health and personal care aides, to name just a few, are also struggling to fill vacancies and keep up with demand for their products and services.

Rather than just wringing their hands about the coming of AI, company leaders, HR professionals, and hiring managers must now reconsider how they will be able to find and keep talent in the coming forever-tight labor market.