Verizon CEO warns: AI will impact the workforce, unemployment rate expected to reach 20% to 30% in the next two to five years

Glonghui, April 20｜According to The Wall Street Journal, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman has warned that AI will impact the workforce, and it is expected that within the next two to five years the unemployment rate could reach 20% to 30%. Advancements in humanoid robots may disrupt manual labor positions that are currently considered safe. He also stated that this is a very difficult period, and everyone is aware of it, so the key is to tell the truth as much as possible. Verizon laid off 13,000 employees starting last year, marking the largest layoff in the company’s history. Dan Schulman said this move was necessary to improve the company’s efficiency and to reduce costs by $9 billion. He also advocated for enhanced education and reskilling to help workers adapt to the intensifying impact of technology. When the company laid off employees last year, it also established a $20 million fund for career transition and retraining.