BLS data shows 130,180 customer service jobs lost to AI in 2025

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released data showing that AI-related occupations are starting to shrink in absolute numbers. Most notably, customer service representatives declined by 130,180 positions (a 4.8% drop) over the year ending May 2025. The BLS identified 18 specific occupations as 'artificial intelligence related' in a 2024 report, including paralegals, graphic designers, broadcast announcers, technical writers, interpreters, translators, insurance sales agents, various sales representatives, models, sales engineers, procurement clerks, credit authorizers, and multiple categories of secretaries and administrative assistants. Employment across this entire group fell 0.2% during a period when overall U.S. employment rose 0.8%, signaling that AI is displacing workers rather than augmenting them in these roles.

The picture is actually worse than the headline 0.2% decline suggests. Bloomberg notes that 'medical secretaries and administrative assistants' — a subcategory that is booming due to healthcare demand — is distorting the aggregate numbers. Excluding that outlier, employment across the other 17 occupations dropped by 1.6%. This aligns with early fears that AI will automate routine desk jobs involving interfacing between people and systems. Optimists like Ezra Klein argue that new, better jobs will emerge to offset the losses, but early evidence is mixed. For example, some former graphic designers now find themselves fixing hideous or error-riddled AI outputs rather than creating original work. While it's too soon to panic, the data makes clear that AI's impact on employment is no longer theoretical — it's measurable and concentrated in specific white-collar roles.