{"id":491227,"date":"2026-02-26T08:16:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/491227\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:16:18","slug":"ex-presidential-candidate-andrew-yang-warns-that-millions-of-white-collar-workers-will-lose-their-jobs-within-18-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/491227\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex\u2013presidential candidate Andrew Yang warns that millions of white-collar workers will lose their jobs within 18 months"},"content":{"rendered":"

The artificial intelligence boom has fueled grand promises: cures for cancer<\/a>, self-driving metropolises<\/a>, and even interplanetary travel<\/a>. It\u2019s also powered a stock market surge<\/a> that\u2019s padded plenty of retirement accounts. But beneath the optimism, entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang<\/a> says a far more immediate disruption is underway\u2014and the U.S. is not ready for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that millions of white-collar workers are going to lose their jobs in the next 12 to 18 months due to AI,\u201d Yang said in an Instagram video<\/a> that\u2019s garnered over 600,000 views.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is now able to do the work of a very, very smart human in minutes or even seconds. This is going to displace marketers, coders, designers, lawyers, accountants, call center workers\u2014you name it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yang joins a chorus of business leaders\u2014from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei<\/a> to Ford CEO Jim Farley<\/a>\u2014warning about the nightmare that could be coming for white-collar workers. However, the economic fallout in reality could reach far beyond office workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people lose their jobs, it affects dry cleaners, dog walkers, hairstylists, restaurants\u2014all local businesses that see less people who are able to spend. Personal bankruptcies are going to surge,\u201d Yang added.<\/p>\n

The end result, the 51-year-old said, will be a more extreme winner-take-all economy<\/a>, where the path to social mobility and middle-class status is \u201cbroken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AI job apocalypse is real,\u201d Yang said. \u201cIt\u2019s underway right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elon Musk and Sam Altman agree with Andrew Yang\u2019s universal income stance<\/p>\n

Yang has been sounding alarms about automation for years. While running for president in the 2020 campaign cycle, he made universal basic income<\/a> the centerpiece of his platform, proposing $1,000 a month for every American over 18 in order to mitigate impending job automation.<\/p>\n

As generative AI has moved from research labs into the mainstream, he has only intensified that warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillions of people could lose their job in America,\u201d Yang told Fortune<\/a> in 2023, when asked about the negative risks of AI. \u201cWe should reckon with what the human effects are. If we don\u2019t have meaningful countermeasures or ways to help people transition, then we should be diligent about safeguarding people during what could be a very rocky period.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what once sounded fringe is continuing to get support among many top business leaders.<\/p>\n

Responding to billionaire Michael Dell\u2019s plan to fund investment accounts<\/a> for newborns, Elon Musk<\/a> wrote on X: \u201cThere will be no poverty in the future and so no need to save money \u2026\u00a0There will be universal high income.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Altman<\/a>, CEO of OpenAI and the force behind ChatGPT, has also expressed openness to a guaranteed income program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to be really excited about things like UBI,\u201d Altman said on the This Past Weekend podcast<\/a> last year. \u201cI still am kind of excited, like, universal basic income, where you just give everybody money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Degrees used to be a shield against volatility. Yang says that\u2019s changing<\/p>\n

For decades, higher education has been sold as the safest hedge against economic disruption. As manufacturing jobs disappeared and the digital economy took off, the answer was to go to college and learn how to code<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Yang argued that AI is undermining that formula. The traditional education premium\u2014the wage boost that comes with a degree\u2014has already begun to shrink<\/a>, with the unemployment rate of college graduates on the rise. As fewer graduates see a clear return on their investment, it\u2019s likely dozens, or even hundreds, of more colleges will shut their doors<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re weighing going back to school or sending your child in this direction, question the cost of the degree heavily, as the cost-benefit is changing\u2014for the worse\u2014in real time,\u201d Yang wrote on his Substack<\/a> this week. \u201cIf it\u2019s low-cost, vocational, or top-tier, you\u2019re fine. If it\u2019s expensive and doesn\u2019t lead to a concrete opportunity \u2026 maybe reexamine it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while he does not think AI will mark the end of going to college altogether, there is a growing need to develop soft skills\u2014like grit and communication\u2014throughout an education experience rather than focusing on getting high grades.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers might want to hire people who are consistently delightful or tough, which doesn\u2019t necessarily map to SAT scores,\u201d Yang said. \u201cSo being a high-performing athlete, a talented singer, dancer, actor, or the head of student government could be more important than how smart you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a white-collar job, and are you worried about the future of your work? Email preston.fore@fortune.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n