Financial Industry Employment Doubles to 9.19 Million by 2025 as AI Job-Loss Fears Persist
Updated
Updated · CounterPunch · May 14
Financial Industry Employment Doubles to 9.19 Million by 2025 as AI Job-Loss Fears Persist
1 articles · Updated · CounterPunch · May 14
9,196,000 people worked in finance in 2025, up from 4,047,000 in 1975, even after decades of automation that should have reduced clerical and banking jobs.
5.8% of total U.S. employment now sits in finance, versus 5.3% in 1975, suggesting technology expanded the sector rather than shrinking its labor footprint.
1,141,000 jobs were in securities and commodities in 2025, up from 489,000 in 1990, as software enabled growth in mortgage-backed securities, derivatives trading and other complex products.
Nearly $3 trillion in crypto assets and broader financial innovation show how new technology can create large workforces in activities critics argue add limited social value.
The report argues AI may similarly spawn new industries and jobs, complicating predictions of mass unemployment even if those sectors do not clearly improve welfare.
If AI creates jobs like finance did, will they benefit society or just create new forms of systemic risk?
With AI freezing entry-level jobs, are young workers being locked out of the future economy their elders are building?
Is comparing AI to ATMs a flawed analogy, underestimating a technology that can automate thinking itself?