Pew: people in 34 of 37 countries expect AI job losses. Young adults worry most

Pew Research Center asked 42,151 people in 36 countries what artificial intelligence will do to work. The answer came back the same way almost everywhere. In 34 of the 37 countries in the study, more people expect “fewer jobs rather than more jobs”. Pew ran the fieldwork between 8 February and 13 May 2026 and published the report on 17 September 2026. The source document is available on the Pew website.

Australia, South Korea and the United States sit near 70%

The three countries where worry runs highest are all rich ones. In each of them about seven people in ten expect artificial intelligence to cut the number of jobs. That is the top of the range, not the average. The pattern holds across the survey: the wealthier the country, the more people expect losses.

Rich countries expect losses, middle-income ones say they do not know

Pew split the 36 countries into two groups of 18. In the high-income group a median of 55% expect artificial intelligence to reduce the number of jobs within 20 years. In the middle-income group that figure is 36%. The gap is not made of optimism. In middle-income countries around 40% or more say they are unsure. Half of people in rich countries say they have heard a lot about artificial intelligence, against 27% in the other group.

Young Americans moved 15 points in two years

Adults aged 18 to 34 worry more than older people in many of the countries surveyed. The United States shows the movement clearly. In 2024, 40% of young Americans expected artificial intelligence to cost jobs. By 2026 the figure was 55%. That is a shift of 15 percentage points in two years, in the group that will spend longest in the labour market.

A median 37% also expect the wealth gap to widen

The survey covered more than employment. A median of 37% across the countries say they are worried that artificial intelligence will widen the gap between rich and poor. Larger shares said they did not know. That uncertainty is itself a finding: many people have not made up their minds, which is not the same as being relaxed. Brands have already noticed the mood, and some now advertise being human as a selling point. Desigual went further with an openly anti-AI campaign.

The split is useful for anyone deciding where to sell an AI-branded product. The markets with the most money to spend are the markets where most people expect the technology to take work away. Poland sits in that high-income group. Companies selling artificial intelligence to consumers in Warsaw, Sydney or Seoul face an audience that already has a view. Firms selling into Nigeria, Kenya or Indonesia mostly face people who say they do not know yet.