driven workforce changes create anxiety but may offer opportunities
ByNydia Han
Friday, October 16, 2026 3:25PM
New research from McKinsey suggests the U.S. economy could create more jobs over the next decade than automation replaces.
WPVI
New research from McKinseysuggests the U.S. economy could create more jobs over the next decade than automation replaces.
However, the shift could require millions of workers to transition into new roles as artificial intelligence reshapes the workforce.
“Over the next five years, we will see more change than we have ever faced before,” said Cassandra Worthy, founder of Change Enthusiasm Global.
Worthy, who founded her consulting firm in March 2020, said the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be overshadowed by the long-term impact of artificial intelligence.
“Oh, AI anxiety is so real. And so many of us are feeling it,” Worthy said. She added that “the jobs that we’ve known for so long just won’t exist in five years because of the advent of AI.”
At the same time, some business leaders argue that AI can help workers become more productive rather than replace them.
“AI will change most jobs, but not overnight,” said Rob Price, an entrepreneur building companies focused on helping organizations adopt AI. “I help people put AI to work,” Price said.
Through Wrk.Dog, Price said his goal is to help “startups and small businesses can run like big ones for next to nothing.”
Price also founded Ragu.Ai, which helps established companies use AI to grow and “to leverage their human workforce, to do better work, to provide better customer service, to take out the drudgery and the work that people don’t really like to do.”
When asked about concerns from workers who fear job losses, Price said, “In our experience, we haven’t found a single company that has replaced employees because of any tool that we’ve supplied.”
Still, Price cautioned that no job will be completely insulated from AI’s influence.
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“Knowing the technology and how to deploy it is an unbelievable advantage,” he said.
Both Price and Worthy said workers can better manage anxiety about AI by embracing the technology and learning how to use it.
“What you do with it is up to you. You can start a new business for a fraction of the cost it used to. You can excel at a job without having all the expertise you used to require,” Price said.
Worthy said curiosity is essential and that people should view change as an opportunity. She said she uses AI to manage emails and schedules and to create proposals and pricing.
“It helps me free up time so that I can ideate, I can create, I can do the things that I think was born to do and to really fully live in my purpose,” Worthy said.
Despite rapid advances in AI, both emphasized the continuing importance of personal relationships.
“There is something A-I can never replace and that, of course, is human connection.” Price is launching a platform called Frontier Table, aimed at bringing people together to discuss and better understand the future of artificial intelligence.
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- TECHNOLOGY
- ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
- U.S. & WORLD
