Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, REPORTS—As artificial labor begins to displace workers Sen. Sanders proposes policies to protect working families, (Oct 7, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The report lists a number of corporations that have benefitted from increased revenue after cutting the jobs of thousands of workers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation could replace nearly 100 million jobs over the next 10 years, according to a report released by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The report outlines policy proposals to ensure working families benefit from technological advancements instead of being disadvantaged by the adoption of artificial labor.

Loss of jobs to artificial labor. Using a ChatGPT-based model, Sanders and his team determined that, in 10 years, 89 percent of fast food and counter workers, 64 percent of accountants, and 47 percent of truck drivers could lose their jobs to AI and automation. AI companies admit that their goal is to lower labor costs, with firms like Artisan advertising digital labor platforms that can help companies “stop hiring humans.” Mechanize, a startup aiming to create artificial labor, states on its website that “the market potential here is absurdly large,” and points to the total income earned by workers.

Some corporations have already begun using artificial labor to take advantage of workers. Amazon has laid of 27,000 people since 2022, telling staff it expects to reduce its total corporate workforce as it “get[s] efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.” Meanwhile, its former Web Services CEO made $34.3 million in 2024. Walmart cut 70,000 jobs over the past five years while increasing revenues by $150 billion and paying its CEO $27 million in 2024.

Trump administration activities. The Trump administration is worsening the situation for workers, the report states, empowering AI executives to shape the future of AI and threatening to cut AI-related federal funding for states that try to protect workers and families through “burdensome” AI regulations. The report argues that the administration is gutting federal labor protections, creating a dangerous precedent for workers to be fired arbitrarily, and sending a signal to Wall Street that doing so is acceptable.

Policy proposals. To ensure working families, and not just billionaires, benefit from technological change, the report outlined the following policy proposals:

• a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay, reducing stress levels for workers;

• requirements that corporations distribute at least 20 percent of their stock to workers, allowing workers to directly benefit from the economic gains resulting from AI and automation;

• democratization of corporate boards by allowing workers to directly elect at least 45 percent of the board of directors at large corporations;

• expanded employee ownership and the creation of a U.S. Employee Ownership Bank to provide more than $10 billion in low-cost loans, loan guarantees, and financial assistance to workers who want to purchase their own businesses;

• a “robot tax” on corporations that replace workers with machines;

• increased union membership by passing of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and ending of union busting;

• guaranteed paid family and medical leave;

• restoration of defined benefit pensions to guarantee income in retirement; and

• banning of corporate stock buybacks, which amount to “nothing more than stock manipulation.”

“Technology can and should improve the lives of working people,” Sanders said. “But it will not happen if decisions are made in boardrooms by billionaires who only care about short-term profits. Congress must ensure that AI and automation benefit workers, not just corporate CEOs and Wall Street.”

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