Bipartisan Bill Seeks Transparency on AI-Related Job Impacts Amid Growing Workforce Concerns

A new bipartisan bill could force businesses to report layoffs caused by AI.

The "AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act," introduced by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), would require government agencies and publicly-traded companies to report how many people they fire, hire, and retrain due to AI. It comes just a few weeks after union leaders called for more regulation around AI. Warner: "Good policy starts with good data. This bipartisan legislation will finally give us a clear picture of AI's impact on the workforce - what jobs are being eliminated, which workers are being retrained, and where new opportunities are emerging."

These Senators Want Companies to Report Any Jobs They Cut Because of AI

Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google. How many jobs are being lost to AI? A new bipartisan bill would require US companies to report AI-related job losses to the federal government to track the technology's impact on employment. On Wednesday, Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act, which "will finally give us a clear picture of AI's impact on the workforce -- what jobs are being eliminated, which workers are being retrained, and where new opportunities are emerging," Sen. Warner said in a statement. "Armed with this information, we can make sure AI drives opportunity instead of leaving workers behind." Although researchers have already floated estimates about jobs lost to AI adoption, the senators say it's vital to start tracking the issue with concrete data. The bill proposes requiring both public and private companies in the US, as well as government agencies, to report AI-related job losses on a quarterly basis to the Department of Labor. This would cover jobs lost to automation and the use of artificial intelligence to replace human labor. Companies and agencies would also have to report any human hiring or human job training that was tied to the incorporation of AI. The Department of Labor would then use the data to publish a report each quarter "analyzing the net impact," which would be available online through the department's website. Axios reports the bill demonstrates that both political parties are concerned about AI taking jobs away from Americans, noting that Hawley and Warner were alarmed after the CEO of Anthropic warned that AI "could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs." "The American people need to have an accurate understanding of how AI is affecting our workforce, so we can ensure that AI works for the people, not the other way around," Sen. Hawley says. For now, the US government remains shut down over a funding dispute in Congress. Amazon recently cut 14,000 jobs, which could rise to 30,000 next year. CEO Andy Jassy said the move was due to a culture shift, not AI. However, Beth Galetti, head of HR at Amazon, called out a desire to keep up with fast-moving AI technologies. "This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones)," she wrote in a memo to employees. Last month, Meta cut 600 roles within its AI division after spending millions to poach people from rivals.

New bipartisan bill would require companies to report AI job losses

A pedestrian walks past Amazon Ireland corporate offices in Dublin, as Amazon.com, Inc., said on Tuesday it plans to cut its global corporate workforce by as many as 14,000 roles and seize the opportunity provided by artificial intelligence (AI), in Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 28, 2025. A new bipartisan bill seeks to provide a "clear picture" of how artificial intelligence is affecting the American workforce. Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Wednesday announced the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act. It would require publicly traded companies, certain private companies and federal agencies to submit quarterly reports to the Department of Labor detailing any job losses, new hires, reduced hiring or other significant changes to their workforce as a result of AI. The data would then be compiled by the Department of Labor into a publicly available report. "This bipartisan legislation will finally give us a clear picture of AI's impact on the workforce," Warner said in a statement. "Armed with this information, we can make sure AI drives opportunity instead of leaving workers behind." The proposed legislation comes as politicians, labor advocates and some executives have sounded the alarm in recent years about the potential for widespread job loss due to AI. In May, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said that the AI tools that his company and others are building could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and cause unemployment to spike up to 20% in the next one to five years. Anthropic makes the chatbot Claude. Layoffs have been announced recently at companies across the tech, retail, auto and shipping industries, with executives citing myriad reasons, from AI and tariffs to shifting business priorities and broader cost-cutting efforts. Job cuts announced at Amazon, UPS and Target last month totaled more than 60,000 roles. Some experts have questioned whether AI is fully to blame for the layoffs, noting that companies could be using the technology as cover for concerns about the economy, business missteps or cost cutting initiatives.

Exclusive: Hawley and Warner introduce AI jobs bill

Why it matters: The bipartisan push shows there is concern on both sides of the aisle about AI's impact on jobs, even as the Trump administration champions the technology as key to U.S. competitiveness. Driving the news: The AI-Related Jobs Impact Clarity Act would mandate that certain companies and federal agencies regularly disclose information about how AI is shaping the workforce, from layoffs to new hires. * The Labor Department would then be required to make that information public. What they're saying: Hawley and Warner cite Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's warning that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next five years and other forecasts about AI in the workplace as the impetus for the bill. * "The American people need to have an accurate understanding of how AI is affecting our workforce, so we can ensure that AI works for the people, not the other way around," Hawley said in a statement shared with Axios. * "This bipartisan legislation will finally give us a clear picture of AI's impact on the workforce - what jobs are being eliminated, which workers are being retrained, and where new opportunities are emerging," Warner said. "Armed with this information, we can make sure AI drives opportunity instead of leaving workers behind." What's inside: Entities covered by the bill would be required to disclose "any artificial intelligence-related job impact" no more than 30 days after the last day of each quarter. * They would need to report the number of people laid off, hired or retrained due to AI, per the bill text. Context: Warner and Hawley also recently linked up for a bill that would ban AI chatbots for children. The big picture: Lawmakers want to see data on how AI is impacting jobs as white-collar companies increasingly cite the tech as a reason for thousands of cuts.

Senators Hawley and Warner Introduce Bipartisan Bill Exposing AI-Related Layoffs

Experts are skeptical about whether AI is the real reason behind recent layoffs. (Getty) Today, U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) announced their AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act. The bill would require major companies and federal agencies to disclose all AI-related layoffs to the Department of Labor for a public report. "Artificial intelligence is already replacing American workers, and experts project AI could drive unemployment up to 10-20 percent in the next five years," said Senator Hawley. "The American people need to have an accurate understanding of how AI is affecting our workforce, so we can ensure that AI works for the people, not the other way around." On October 28, Amazon announced its plan to cut 14,000 corporate jobs to make room for spending on AI. It's the latest in a slew of companies leaning on artificial intelligence. In September, Salesforce laid off 4,000 employees and Lufthansa said it would get rid of 4,000 jobs by 2030 because of AI. But there's skepticism now around which of these companies are telling the truth, and which are using AI as an excuse -- or to impress investors. "I'm really skeptical whether the layoffs that we see currently are really due to true efficiency gains," Fabian Stephany, assistant professor of AI and work at the Oxford Internet Institute, told CNBC. "It's rather really a projection into AI in the sense of 'We can use AI to make good excuses.'" Stephany says some companies that announced AI related layoffs, including Klarna and Duolingo, overhired during the pandemic and now have to cut those roles. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski posted on X October 19 that the company has made "0 layoffs due to AI" but has "virtually stopped hiring, since 2023, largely due to AI." Amazon's CEO on October 30 said its layoffs weren't driven by AI, but rather by culture. Such clarifications are part of what makes it challenging for workers to understand the real reason behind layoffs. It's much easier for a company to say, 'We are laying workers off because we're realizing AI-related efficiencies' than to say 'We're laying people off because we're not that profitable or bloated, or facing a slowing economic environment, etc,'" David Autor, an MIT economics professor, wrote in an email to NBC News. "Whether or not AI were the reason, you'd be wise to attribute the credit/blame to AI." The proposed bill would require companies to report layoffs "substantially due to replacement or automation by artificial intelligence" along with new hires "that are substantially due to the incorporation of artificial intelligence." "Good policy starts with good data," said Senator Warner. "Armed with this information, we can make sure AI drives opportunity instead of leaving workers behind." The early-rate deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, November 14, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

Senate Bill Would Require Quarterly Reports on the Job Effects of AI | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The bill would also require the DOL to compile data on AI-related job effects and publish a report to Congress and the public, according to a press release issued Wednesday (Nov. 5) by the bill's sponsors. The sponsors, Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said in the release that they will introduce the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act. Organizations would be required to report, and the DOL would be required to publish, this data quarterly, per the bill. "Artificial intelligence is already replacing American workers, and experts project AI could drive unemployment up to 10-20% in the next five years," Hawley said in the release. "The American people need to have an accurate understanding of how AI is affecting our workforce, so we can ensure that AI works for the people, not the other way around." Warner said in the release: "Good policy starts with good data. This bipartisan legislation will finally give us a clear picture of AI's impact on the workforce -- what jobs are being eliminated, which workers are being retrained, and where new opportunities are emerging. Armed with this information, we can make sure AI drives opportunity instead of leaving workers behind." The PYMNTS Intelligence report "Generation AI: Why Gen Z Bets Big and Boomers Hold Back" found that among people who use generative AI, 33% are concerned that the technology might cause people to lose their jobs. That concern is highest among Generation Z, with 38% of the gen AI users in that age group worried about the impact on employment. The report said Gen Z users hold or seek the kinds of entry-level jobs that the technology can most easily replace. PYMNTS reported in September that there is a debate over the potential impact of AI on jobs. The forecasts range from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's statement that the technology could displace 70% of all jobs, to a report by economists, including former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, that said it is "likely too early to assess its full impacts."