Gartner’s findings come amid worker fears that AI will wipe out jobs. Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and push US unemployment to between 10 and 20% in the next one to five years.
But Helen Poitevin, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, said the organisations furthest along with AI are using it to rethink how they operate, not simply to cut staff.
“Organisations most advanced in AI execution view AI not as a replacement for labour, but as a catalyst to reinvent operations and rebalance workforce and technology capabilities to compete in changing markets. They ensure AI’s economic value goes beyond replacing labour,” Poitevin said at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo in Barcelona.
Hiring put on hold
Despite the positive overall outlook, Gartner’s forecast points to a less visible effect of AI on the labour market: roles that are never created.
According to Gartner, one of the most significant impacts on the job market in 2026 was executives’ decisions to defer the creation and hiring of 1.3 million positions. Gartner’s 2026 figures also show 2.2 million jobs lost and 1.6 million gained.