In 2022, the tech industry experienced difficult times due to the collapse of cryptocurrency and 152,000 job losses, with innovation almost coming to a standstill. However, OpenAI released ChatGPT in early December of last year, which seemed like a lifeline for some, but a threat to others.
According to a recent study, 23% of software and tech employees are concerned about losing their jobs due to ChatGPT. This fear may not be unfounded, as 26% of employers in the same industry are considering downsizing their workforce as a direct result of the technology.
However, employees in the education sector need not worry too much, as only 31% of them fear job loss due to ChatGPT. These workers are almost twice as likely as their employers to believe that ChatGPT will reduce the workforce.
The financial sector is the second-largest industry where employees and employers disagree about the impact of ChatGPT on the workforce. Financial sector employees do not view ChatGPT as a threat, although they should. Only 14% of financial sector workers fear that ChatGPT will be used to reduce the workforce and costs in their company. In contrast, 22% of employers in the financial sector see this as an option if they were to introduce ChatGPT into their company.
On a departmental level, employees in product management and customer service departments are twice as likely to worry about job loss as marketers. However, marketers are the most at risk. 51% of employers considering downsizing believe that ChatGPT should be implemented in their marketing and PR departments. Only a quarter of employees in these departments are considering reducing their workforce.
Although employees and employers have different opinions on which jobs ChatGPT could affect, both groups agree that the chatbot has potential in marketing copies. However, marketing employees may not have understood how many employers are ready to use the bot.
43% of employers want to hire ChatGPT as a marketing copywriter, compared to 36% of employees who see the chatbot playing a role in this area.
Millennials in both the technical and financial sectors are 2.4 times more likely to worry that ChatGPT will take their jobs. In all sectors, millennials are 43% more concerned about job loss. This number significantly increases when it comes to those working in software and technology.
Within the sector, most millennials who fear job loss worry that ChatGPT will primarily be used for writing rather than coding. For example, 50% fear that it will be used to answer customer questions and 38% fear that it will be used to approach potential customers.
In the financial sector, millennials are 2.4 times more likely to worry about job loss than other generations in the same field. 67% of them believe that the chatbot could impact those who write marketing texts.
