White-collar workers switch to hands-on careers amid AI job fears
Some professionals are moving into fields like construction, believing their old roles are vulnerable to artificial intelligence.
Some Canadian office workers are leaving their jobs for careers in trades like construction, fearing their roles will be replaced by artificial intelligence. A Bank of Canada report says there is no data showing AI has caused mass layoffs in the country. The central bank's August report identified data clerks, customer service representatives, legal and finance administration workers, receptionists and travel agents as the occupations most exposed to the technology. It estimated the unemployment risk for people in these jobs rose by almost a full percentage point between 2015 and 2025. Still, the bank emphasized it is not yet seeing widespread job losses.
Eugene Kuznietsov, a marketing professional for nearly ten years, decided his job in search engine optimization could become obsolete. He said an employer could reduce the need for multiple SEO specialists and just have one employee guide AI agents. Kuznietsov, a recent Ukrainian immigrant, believed it was a matter of time before he was laid off. He started a glazing company in the construction business with friends late last year. He now uses the AI tool Claude for administrative work to cut costs.
"I don't think I'll ever go back into marketing," Kuznietsov said. "That field is dead." Government agencies have listed jobs they consider relatively safe from AI disruption. These include nurses, dancers, carpenters, electricians and plumbers. There are other anecdotal examples of professionals moving to careers they believe offer more security. Canadian students are also shifting toward career-focused degrees, with humanities bachelor's degrees falling from 13 per cent of all degrees in the early 1990s to 5 per cent in 2024. Tracking college admissions in hands-on fields could show if a broader transition from white-collar to blue-collar work is underway. The Bank of Canada's analysis suggests the risk from AI is contained for now but growing for certain office roles. Some workers are not waiting for official data to confirm their fears and are making career changes pre-emptively.
With files from The Globe and Mail