Osterman Finds 35% of US Workers Are Disposable as AI Uncertainty Deepens Precarious Employment
Updated
Updated · Public Discourse · Sep 8
Osterman Finds 35% of US Workers Are Disposable as AI Uncertainty Deepens Precarious Employment
3 articles · Updated · Public Discourse · Sep 8
Summary
More than 6,000 workers surveyed by MIT emeritus professor Paul Osterman underpin his estimate that roughly 35% of U.S. workers now occupy “disposable” roles with weak security, benefits or career paths.
That shift spans freelancers, contractors and “marginal employees” inside firms, as employers chase lower costs and flexibility by outsourcing, expanding part-time work and limiting long-term commitments.
AI is accelerating the pattern even without replacing jobs outright: nearly half of executives in Osterman’s survey cited AI to justify job cuts, often as cover for broader restructuring.
Young workers are hit hardest, with two-thirds of Americans aged 25 to 35 in insecure jobs; only 23% now meet lenders’ two-year stable-employment test for mortgages, down from 67% in 2015.
Osterman argues the erosion of the postwar employer-employee compact is now depressing consumption, wealth-building and family stability, and calls for stronger worker organization, legal reforms and public protections.
Are companies quietly using AI as a smokescreen to replace stable careers with a permanent, disposable workforce of precarious contractors?
How long can our economy survive when businesses maximize profits by shifting all financial risks onto an increasingly unstable, freelance workforce?
If modern corporations treat employee loyalty as a financial liability, what happens when an entire generation is permanently locked out of economic stability?