--- title: "Economist Warns That the Poor Will Bear the Brunt of AI’s Effects on the Job Market" description: "Former labor secretary Robert Reich has issued a grim warning about AI's effects on the poor and working class." date: "2026-02-12" modified: "2026-02-12" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/robert-reich-jobs-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" - "Finance" - "Future Society" --- # Economist Warns That the Poor Will Bear the Brunt of AI’s Effects on the Job Market ![A person wearing a short-sleeve shirt is holding an open, empty wallet with both hands. The image has a stylized, textured effect with a yellowish tint on the person and wallet, set against a dark background with a red circle and a grid pattern.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* While tech executives wax poetic about AI ushering in [four-day workweeks]() and [liberation from labor](), economics guru Robert Reich is cutting through the drivel. In an [ominous new essay](), the former secretary of labor warns that those shortened weeks will also come with much shorter paychecks — leaving the working class scrambling for crumbs in order to survive. The US economy is growing nicely, Reich notes, while the stock market is doing gangbusters. But as for the stuff that really counts for most Americans? It's "sh\*tty," the plainspoken wonk asserts. And as AI continues to rankle the job market, Reich says the poor and working class will increasingly bear the brunt. To set up his argument, Reich briefly considers comments from business tycoons like [Zoom's Eric Yuan]() and [JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon](), who argue that four- and even three-day work weeks will become the norm thanks to new automation tools. "All of this is pure rubbish," Reich writes. "Here's the truth: The four-day workweek will most likely come with four days' worth of pay. The three-day workweek, with three days' worth. And so on." As evidence, he references the [productivity-pay gap](), the measure of a society's economic output compared to its wage growth. In the United States, productivity keeps going up — but the share of that productivity going to workers hasn't really budged since the 1970s. Workers, in other words, have been getting shafted by their bosses for decades, and there's no reason to think AI will change that. "So, as AI takes over their current work, most workers will probably get poorer or have to take additional jobs to maintain their current pay," Reich posits. Indeed, we don't need to wait for AI to take over to see this play out: full-time job growth in 2025 was [almost nonexistent](), while the number of people [turning to gig work]() continues to rise amidst [widespread layoffs]() and [wage declines]() among low-wage workers. "Rather than creating an age of abundance in which most people no longer have to worry about money," Reich continues, "new technologies have contributed to a two-tiered society comprising a relatively few with extraordinary wealth and a vast number of people barely making it." At the end of the day, the economist says, "it comes down to who has the power." **More on AI:** *[Fear Grows That AI Is Permanently Eliminating Jobs]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()