Apollo: AI Is Quietly Suppressing Wages for 5.8 Million Workers, Without Eliminating Jobs

My take: An analysis by Apollo Global Management using payroll data from millions of U.S. workers reaches a conclusion most people don't expect: AI is not destroying jobs in net terms, but it is quietly suppressing wages for workers in highly exposed occupations. Around 5.8 million workers see their real wage growth lagging 6.7 percentage points behind the average. The impact isn't even: service workers show a 24.3% decline, the bottom income quartile absorbs 10.7%, and top earners register no significant effect.

This matters because it changes the conversation. For years the debate focused on whether AI would eliminate jobs; the data suggest the immediate effect is quieter but equally real: the market pays less for work AI can support, and those with the least margin feel it first.

The stat that balances the scale: candidates with AI skills command an average of 23% higher pay than comparable profiles without those skills. The same technology compressing wages for those who don't use it is raising wages for those who do.

How long have you been integrating AI tools into your daily work, and when did you last check whether that shows up in your rates or in what you ask from your team?