Economist Justin Wolfers has issued a stark warning that white-collar professionals are now facing their ‘Detroit auto worker’ moment due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
AI comes before cognitive jobs
Wolfers argued on MSNBC that, unlike every major technological shift in the past, AI is the first to replace cognitive work in place of manual labor.
“Almost every previous technological revolution – the plough, the steam engine, electricity – was technology… that did the work of muscle and muscle,” Wolfers explained.
He noted that these disruptions mainly affected workers. “What’s different this time is that the robots are doing cognitive work,” he said. “So that means the people they’re coming for this time are white-collar workers.”
He identified the core skills of many white-collar jobs – including his own and those in the media – as being directly in the crosshairs of AI. “If you spend your day ‘reading a lot of things and converting them into plain English,’ well… the machine does that too,” he wrote.
See also: Nasdaq 100 faces worst November since 2008 as AI boom hits a wall
Wolfers calls for a better policy response to declining jobs
Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy, said this new reality should be a moment of empathy. He suggested that people in the working-class world say to their white-collar friends, “Welcome to what I’ve been through for the last forty years.”
“We feel like the auto workers in Detroit in the 1970s,” Wolfers added, emphasizing that the main challenge now is to learn from history. He urged a better policy response, not “because it is white-collar workers this time, but because we should learn from history.”
Major companies announce job cuts
This comes as big companies include Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) And United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS)have recently announced significant layoffs.
AMZN is targeting nearly 30,000 jobs after already 14,000 layoffs this year, and UPS is cutting 48,000 jobs this year, surpassing its previous estimate of 20,000 job losses.
Other companies cutting jobs include:
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP – 5,600 cuts implemented in the 2025 budget year
- Chegg Inc. (NYSE:CHGG) – cutting 45% of the workforce
- Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) – eliminating 1,800 positions (8% of the corporate team)
- Paramount Skydance Corp. (NASDAQ:PSKY) – cutting 2,000 jobs
The September employment report, which was affected by the government shutdown, will now be released on Thursday, November 20, according to the BLS.
AI-connected tools lead the rally despite employment concerns
Futures on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones traded higher on Monday after a mixed close on Friday. Here are some AI-linked ETFs that investors could consider.
| ETF name | YTD performance | One year performance |
| iShares US Technology ETF (NYSE:IYW) | 24.83% | 27.51% |
| Fidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETF (NYSE:FTEC) | 21.88% | 25.32% |
| First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSE:FDN) | 10.53% | 16.36% |
| iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (NYSE:IGM) | 24.99% | 28.93% |
| iShares Global Tech ETF (NYSE:IXN) | 25.11% | 28.47% |
| Defiance Quantum ETF (NASDAQ:QTUM) | 29.73% | 66.04% |
| Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (BATS:MAGS) | 19.81% | 27.01% |
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Disclaimer: This content was produced in part using AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga’s editorial staff.
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