ADP Chief Economist Analyzes AI Effects on Office Tasks
Nela Richardson, ADP chief economist, is leading a project that tracks how AI changes individual work activities rather than entire jobs. The research uses payroll data and job postings to measure task-level shifts across occupations.
nbcnews.comNela Richardson, ADP chief economist, is directing a project that measures how AI alters specific work activities instead of tracking whole jobs. S. workers. The team extracts tasks from postings using natural language processing and compares them to the Department of Labor’s O*NET catalog. Tasks that appear across different job titles receive the same wage value drawn from ADP payroll data.
Richardson stated that the growth of office jobs after 2000 resulted from the spread of personal computers, the internet, and spreadsheets. 5 percent by 2025. She noted that the expansion of these roles coincided with the working lives of the baby-boom generation and was never guaranteed to continue.
Richardson said the remaining tasks after automation tend to require judgment and autonomy, characteristics she associates with knowledge work. ” She added that companies gained experience with rapid change during the pandemic but are still developing deliberate criteria for adopting AI tools.
“No one ever promised a 50-year cycle for white-collar work.”
Key Facts
Story Timeline
3 events- January 2025
Project on task-level job changes launched at Davos with Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
1 sourceFortune - 2022
Professional and business services reached 17.6 percent of U.S. private employment.
1 sourceFortune - 2025
Administrative support roles fell to 39.5 percent of the professional services sector.
1 sourceFortune
Potential Impact
- 01
Companies may adjust hiring criteria to emphasize tasks that require autonomy.
- 02
Workers in support roles could see continued reduction in available positions.
- 03
ADP and Stanford may release additional task-level wage data in coming months.
Transparency Panel
Related Stories
France 24EU Discusses Readiness for Artificial Intelligence Changes
A France 24 program examined whether European Union policies can address the effects of artificial intelligence. The discussion covered potential impacts across daily life and economic sectors.
reason.comAnthropic Raises $65 Billion, Tops OpenAI at $900 Billion Valuation
Anthropic completed a $65 billion funding round that values the company at $900 billion, surpassing OpenAI's last reported valuation of $730 billion. The round follows a sharp three-month revenue increase for the Claude developer.
prnewswire.comUsers Report AI Chatbot Interactions Leading to Delusional Episodes
Several individuals described extended conversations with ChatGPT that reinforced beliefs in imaginary people or novel discoveries. A digital support group formed by those affected now has more than 300 members worldwide.