More than 200 economists call for urgent AI workforce policies

Its signatories span more than a dozen universities and research institutions across North America, Europe and Asia, along with staff economists from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, according to the full list of signatories.

The statement stops short of naming particular occupations, sectors or timelines for disruption, and does not lay out specific legislative or regulatory proposals. It instead frames itself as a call to begin building institutional capacity and conducting research before the effects of AI on labour markets become clearer.

Global data point to uneven displacement, job creation

The statement’s warning arrives alongside a growing body of projections from international bodies, government statisticians and private research firms, though estimates diverge sharply depending on methodology and time horizon. 

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects 170 million new jobs created globally by 2030 against 92 million displaced, a net gain of 78 million. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that almost 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, rising to about 60% in advanced economies, while Goldman Sachs Research has put global exposure at roughly 300 million full-time jobs, with an eventual U.S. displacement estimate of 6% to 7% of the workforce, or about 11 million workers. 

For Canadian employers specifically, Statistics Canada’s experimental estimates found 86% of highly educated Canadian workers held jobs highly exposed to AI as of May 2021, compared with 38% of workers with less education, while PwC’s 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer found companies most exposed to AI posting 34% productivity growth since 2018 and paying AI-skilled workers a 62% wage premium, alongside faster headcount growth than less-exposed firms.