Apollo Study Finds 6.7-Point Wage Drag in AI-Exposed Jobs After 2023

3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Sep 13

Workers in occupations highly exposed to AI saw real-wage growth run 6.7 percentage points slower after 2023 than in less-exposed jobs, while the Apollo study found no statistically significant hit to employment.
That pattern lands as U.S. wage growth trails inflation: inflation-adjusted wages and salaries fell 0.4% year over year through June, and labor’s share of nonfarm business income dropped to 52.8% in Q2 2026, the lowest since 1947.
Apollo called the results early evidence that firms may be capturing AI productivity gains through wage compression rather than layoffs, but the study covered only 321 of roughly 800 BLS occupations and just 11 high-exposure categories.
MIT’s Daron Acemoglu and EPI’s Ben Zipperer said the data are too limited to prove broad wage effects, noting post-pandemic tech normalization and uneven AI adoption could be distorting the signal.
Broader research remains mixed: a Dallas Fed analysis found no overall wage link to AI exposure but warned entry-level white-collar workers may already face pay pressure as AI substitutes for codifiable tasks.