What job apocalypse? AI could add almost 2 million new jobs on net by 2030.

• Gartner projects AI will lead to a net gain of around 1.7 million jobs by 2030.
• Employers may be looking for new skills, and those might not all be technical.
• People are worried about the future, as some employers have announced AI-related job cuts.

The AI job apocalypse may not be what you expect.

Business and technology insights company Gartner projects that AI will lead to 10.6 million new jobs globally between 2025 and 2030, while resulting in a loss of 8.9 million jobs. That adds up to a net benefit of over a million new jobs before the decade is out.

John Lovelock, distinguished vice president analyst and chief of research at Gartner, told Business Insider that what people are really feeling right now is that companies are in wait-and-see mode as the work impacts of AI become clearer.

"Early use of AI just leads people to say, 'You know what? Let's hold off on hiring,'" Lovelock said. "Next level up in usage of AI leads to job reductions. And the final use of AI typically leads to job additions — net job additions."

While the expected job loss would affect less than 2% of workers, the emerging technology is likely to change how a good share of the populace does their jobs. Gartner projects more than 20% of workers, or 435.5 million, would need to adapt to AI effects, including what kind of work they do and how they do it.

"Of the 10 tasks you may be doing today, you may only be doing six of them, and you'll be doing them differently tomorrow," Lovelock said.

ZipRecruiter economist Nicole Bachaud thinks AI is adding volatility in tech-related industries in the US, changing roles and skills employers want. Employers may want applicants who are experienced with AI or have great soft skills because AI can do what a role once required.

"As these skills change so rapidly, I think we're going to see more turnover and, as a result, more volatility in professional and business services, in financial activities, and information," she told Business Insider.

Outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said there have been more than 100,000 AI-related job-cut announcements in the US so far this year as of October. It's the second-most-cited reason, with market and economic conditions taking the top spot.

Workers might be skeptical about AI transforming duties. When Cristina Estupiñán was looking for work after a layoff, she wasn't excited about prospective employers asking about her enthusiasm for AI.

"I have to make up something about what excites me about AI because, frankly, nothing really excites me about AI," Estupiñán, who worked in software development, previously told Business Insider.

After more than two decades at Microsoft, Shawn Mrzena decided to take Microsoft's voluntary retirement program, partly because the rapid pace and demand of AI wasn't a technology shift he was excited about as a worker.

"I just decided, 'You know what? I'm going to leave it to the next generation,'" he said. "This is not something I want to invest my energy and time into. I'm not waking up excited in the morning."

Jan Hatzius, chief economist and head of global investment research at Goldman Sachs, said that unemployment will likely remain low next year but there could be upward pressure over the following couple of years from "more aggressive AI adoption." He said this would be a temporary headwind and the expectation isn't a jobpocalypse.

Lovelock said industries would be affected differently. He suggested that governments might "be fixated on the efficiencies and reducing labor force, reducing cost of operations, and therefore more likely to be a loss," while service industries could see job increases as a result of a bump to productivity making each additional employee more lucrative.

While we don't know how the next few years will actually pan out, people fear job cuts are coming. Pew Research Center found 76% of Australians and 76% of South Koreans think AI would lead to fewer jobs in their country over the next 20 years, the highest share among the 37 countries surveyed. Nigeria and the Philippines had the lowest shares expecting this outcome, at 26%.

"In a number of countries, concern about AI-related job loss is more common among young adults (those ages 18 to 34) than older adults (those ages 50 and older)," the Pew Research Center report said. "This is the case in high-income nations like Canada, France, Singapore and Sweden, as well as in middle-income nations like India, Indonesia and Malaysia."