Feature · AI jobless policy

Lose your job to AI, get a year of unemployment benefits? China's State Council and the U.S. Senate moved the same day

"It's a bloodbath in Bay Area. Thousands of layoffs, more to come. Met a founder this morning who mentioned his AI tech is laying off 2000 call center workers." Simar Singh's Oct 23 post drew 670,000 views and 3,900 likes. That same day China's State Council told agencies to prepare for AI-driven job losses, and a U.S. senator proposed stretching unemployment benefits to as long as 52 weeks. Here are the measures governments put forward, and the numbers behind them.

1. @hellosimar · X ↗

   "A bloodbath in the Bay Area," and a reply: there are no call centers there

   Pushback came fast. "No call center workers are in the Bay Area of SF. None. You'd have to pay them $60K. They either pay them $40K in UT or, most likely, $2K overseas," read a reply with 429 likes. "Those call center job losses will happen outside of the US" drew 165. Another reply noted plenty of hiring too, especially for top operations people in New York and San Francisco.

2. China's State Council: monitor AI job risks and draw up contingency plans

   According to Reuters on Oct 23, China's cabinet issued guidelines on AI and employment urging agencies to effectively mitigate job displacement from AI. They call for better systems to monitor AI-linked employment risks, contingency plans, support for transitions and re-employment around disruptive AI projects, and targeted career guidance, training and job matching for displaced workers. Misuse of algorithms in HR, including discrimination, fraudulent recruitment and privacy violations, is also targeted.

3. Wyden's bill: 52 weeks of benefits if unemployment hits 8.5%

   The same day Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Stability and Opportunity for Workers Act. Per CBS News, it would extend unemployment benefits to 52 weeks when the unemployment rate reaches 8.5%, double the current standard of up to 26 weeks, and fund retraining for workers displaced by AI. Equitable Growth notes it would also cover self-employed and gig workers and add a weekly allowance for job seekers without enough work history to qualify.

4. A 50% excess-profits tax, a token tax: the bills piling up in Congress

   Per CBS News, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) last month proposed a 5% tax on digital ad revenue, an AI usage tax and a 50% excess-profits tax on the AI industry. In the House, Rep. Greg Casar and others proposed taxing AI companies on token usage, with rates rising as unemployment rises. Sens. Mark Warner (D) and Josh Hawley (R) want large companies and federal agencies to report AI-related layoffs to the Labor Department. The New York Times says Washington increasingly fears it has fallen behind.

5. California: from July 2027, no firing on an AI score alone

   One state has already acted. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 947 on Sept 30. From July 1, 2027, employers can't rely solely on automated decision systems for discipline or termination; when they primarily rely on one, a human must corroborate with other evidence, and the notice must say so and name a contact. Violations carry a $500 civil penalty each. Saying the dashboard ranked you last "will not be sufficient," law firm AALRR wrote.

6. Where "10,000 jobs a month" comes from

   Per Fortune, Pantheon Macroeconomics' Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen, tracking AI-exposed sectors, estimate AI is eliminating more than 10,000 U.S. jobs a month. Construction is up on data-center building, but accounting, advertising, office admin and legal services are slowly shrinking. Goldman Sachs' Joseph Briggs says that under a 15% AI productivity gain, about 9% of workers could be temporarily displaced.

7. 57% of Korean job seekers say AI could replace the job they want

   Per ZDNet Korea on Oct 23, a Catch survey of 1,942 job seekers found 57% think their target job is at risk from AI: 70% for business and office roles, 63% for IT, and 28% for medicine. Among those searching two years or longer, 76% said their confidence fell. Per Money Today, a Korea Chamber of Commerce review of 144,000 postings found 82% sought only experienced hires and 2.6% only new grads.

8. The counterpoint: the slide started before ChatGPT, and some layoffs are "AI-washing"

   Whether AI is really killing jobs is still disputed. CBS notes the mass-displacement projections haven't materialized and AI-linked layoffs are concentrated in tech. Per The Guardian, Case Western researcher Morgan Frank finds AI-exposed job markets began deteriorating before ChatGPT's November 2022 launch, pointing to post-pandemic cuts and "AI-washing." Still, nearly 80% of Americans in an AP-NORC poll say protecting workers in the AI era is very important.