AI Fears Push US Labor Rate for Workers Over 55 to 20-Year Low

The share of Americans over 55 in the workforce has fallen to a 20-year low of 37.2 percent, as a growing number of veteran professionals opt for early retirement rather than navigate the corporate adoption of artificial intelligence.

"When key elements of their work lives are disrupted at once, that’s when people start to opt out. AI is a big one. It disrupts their autonomy, their professionalism," said Robert Laura, co-founder of the Retirement Coaches Association and an expert on the psychology of retirement.

The decline brings the participation rate down from a peak of around 40 percent in the 2010s. The trend corresponds with a clear age gap in AI adoption, with a recent Pew Research Center survey finding that 30 percent of workers aged 30 to 49 use ChatGPT on the job, nearly double the share of those 50 and older.

This exodus of older workers presents a dual threat to the economy, risking a significant loss of institutional knowledge while simultaneously tightening the labor market for experienced talent. The long-term effects could include reduced corporate productivity and increased pressure on companies to invest further in automation to fill the gaps.

After hovering around 40 percent for a decade, the labor force participation rate for the over-55 cohort has entered a clear downtrend. While economists note that strong stock market returns and rising home equity have provided the financial cushion for some to retire, the sheer scale and speed of the AI transition is a new, significant factor. For many, the prospect of a steep learning curve in the final years of their career is unappealing.

The story of Luke Michel, a 68-year-old former content strategist, is a case in point. Having already adapted to desktop publishing and the internet, he decided to take an early retirement offer from his employer, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “The time and energy you have to devote to learning a whole new vocabulary and a whole new skill set, it wasn’t worth it,” he said.

This sentiment is echoed across industries. A 2025 AARP survey of 5,000 people aged 50 and over found that 25 percent of those who retired earlier than planned cited work stress and burnout as factors. For some, the pressure to integrate AI is a major contributor to that stress. Jennifer Kerns, 60, recently left her program manager role at GitHub, a Microsoft-owned company heavily invested in AI. She cited personal objections to the technology and a lack of interest in using it for her work. "I have no idea how to use that and I have no interest in using AI to write anything for me," she recalled telling colleagues.

From the employer's perspective, the trend is complex. For tech companies and other sectors currently downsizing, these voluntary retirements can be a welcome alternative to layoffs. “The more people retire, the fewer they have to let go,” said Gad Levanon, chief economist at the Burning Glass Institute, which studies labor-market data.

However, other firms worry about losing valuable experience. “We as employers aren’t doing a good enough job saying [to older workers], we value the skills that you already have, so much so that we want to invest in you to help you do your job better,” says Becky Frankiewicz, ManpowerGroup’s chief strategy officer. The challenge lies in framing AI as a tool to augment, not replace, decades of accumulated expertise.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.