On the frontlines of AI\u2019s rollout in the workplace, tech workers have often been the first to feel its effects \u2013 including job loss, employee surveillance<\/a>, increasing workloads, and uses that conflict with employees\u2019 values. These problems that aren\u2019t unique to software companies, though, and how Silicon Valley workers fare could serve as a bellwether for what\u2019s coming as AI spreads to other industries.<\/p>\n A Meta<\/a> employee who was part of a recent union drive in the UK said, \u201cIt\u2019s about us having a voice in all of the operations of the company, from products to employee experience.\u201d The employee spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from their employer.<\/p>\n After Meta cut thousands of workers in May and piloted a program tracking their activities, some employees felt power had tipped toward their employer. Forming a union, the Meta employee said, \u201cis the best way to actually show up as owners, and take our seat at the table\u201d.<\/p>\n The push toward tech unionization has been building for years and includes workers at crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and Microsoft-owned gaming company ZeniMax, as well as the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU), which represents more than 1,400 workers across Google, YouTube and Waymo.<\/p>\n The latest AI-driven developments will drive more organizing efforts, AWU predicts. In the past year, participation in collective actions like AWU\u2019s job security petition<\/a>, which garnered 4,500 signatures and was delivered to executives last week, increased. Total union actions at Alphabet doubled in 2025 from the year prior.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the age of AI, workers need a real say within our companies now more than ever,\u201d said Emma Jackson, senior staff program manager and AWU communications chair. Strong participation \u201cshows workers\u2019 increasing willingness to take a stand and strengthen their agency\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement, Google<\/a> DeepMind said it\u2019s in the \u201cearly stages\u201d of the process to recognize the union and plans to \u201ccontinue to engage in good faith\u201d. Meta didn\u2019t comment.<\/p>\n As companies continue to cut, tech workers face a stark reality sharply at odds with the job security they once took for granted. \u201cWhen I first started in tech, you could leave a job and have another one by the week with better pay,\u201d said John Chadfield, a former tech worker who co-founded United Tech and Allied Workers (UTAW), the UK\u2019s only union specifically for tech industry workers. Now, engineers are realizing they don\u2019t have as much power as they once thought, he said. \u201cYou might be well paid, but you are still workers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis sense of privilege and immunity for tech workers \u2013 that is gone,\u201d said Simone Robutti, a member of Tech Workers Coalition, an international grassroots tech labor network that\u2019s been growing as companies restructure around AI. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that with very few exceptions, tech workers are as replaceable as other workers.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, employees using AI aren\u2019t necessarily experiencing the efficiency boosts the tech promised to deliver. In a recent survey of information technology workers across the University of California campuses, 65% of people reported taking on more work due to a vacant position. Managers expect AI to fill some of those gaps, but people just end up doing more work, said Max Belasco, a business systems analyst at the University of California, Los Angeles chool of Law and union member. And despite the additional responsibility, only 22% of people said they felt secure in their jobs, the survey showed.<\/p>\n AI was a main driver to unionize in spring, Belasco said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to see the UC embody a new way of approaching technology that isn\u2019t just an echo of the consultant-driven layoffs that you see inside of Silicon Valley<\/a> or the idea that AI can just be this cost-cutting measure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n University spokesperson Heather Hansen said the school system is focused on using AI \u201cthoughtfully and responsibly to strengthen its operations\u201d. Decisions about how it uses AI are guided by \u201coperational needs\u201d and \u201cprivacy, security, and policy considerations\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n The proliferation of AI is spurring workers outside the tech industry to take a similar tack. National Nurses United, which represents nurses in the US, has fought<\/a> against the use of AI in clinical settings; Sag-Aftra, which represents workers in media and Hollywood, pushed back on the use of AI to replace creative workers in film.<\/p>\n
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