Tech-displacement fears triple among young workers since 2017

A Gallup poll released Tuesday found that 27% of U.S. workers said they worry their job could be eliminated because of technology—the highest level recorded since Gallup first asked the question in 2017.

The figure is more than double the 13% who expressed the same worry in 2017 and marks a continued increase from 2025, Gallup said. The rise has been especially steep among younger workers and those with college degrees, groups that Gallup noted “may have previously felt more insulated from workplace upheaval.”

For workers ages 18 to 44, the share who said they worry about tech displacement rose from 10% in 2017 to 34% in 2026, including a jump from 26% in 2025. Among workers 45 and older, the share rose more modestly, from 16% in 2017 to 19% in 2026.

College graduates’ concern also climbed sharply as AI tools entered the workplace. Gallup said the share of graduates who worried about tech displacement rose from 8% in 2021 to 20% in 2023—narrowing a historical gap with workers who had not graduated from college. In the latest poll, 25% of college-educated workers and 29% of those without a college degree (up 8 percentage points) said they feared tech-related job loss, a difference Gallup described as small.

By comparison, concerns about more traditional job threats held largely steady. Benefit reductions led those worries at 33%, followed by layoffs at 24% and reduced wages and hours at 21% each. Younger workers were more likely than their older counterparts to worry about every listed job threat except benefit reductions.

“Although far from pervasive, workers’ concern about technology making their jobs obsolete continues to rise, now surpassing several traditional job worries that typically shift with the economy,” Gallup said in its analysis. “The increase is especially notable among younger and college-educated workers, suggesting that anxiety about technological disruption is reaching groups that may have previously felt more insulated from workplace upheaval.”

Gallup surveyed 1,200 adults between Aug. 3 and Aug. 24. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.