External signal·Fortune·Jun 1, 2026·Emma Burleigh·5 min read
Apollo chief economist says there's 'zero evidence' AI is killing jobs—in fact, he says it's creating them
Summary
Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Sløk argues there is 'zero evidence of job losses because of AI,' pointing to ADP employment data and contending the AI spending boom is stoking both employment and inflation. He invokes the Jevons paradox: cheaper technology generates more demand and more human work, including hiring of AI-implementation experts, while the data-center buildout pushes up salaries for AI specialists. His view contrasts with executives at Block, Amazon and JPMorgan who have tied workforce cuts to AI. The article notes 'AI washing,' citing Forrester and the Yale Budget Lab, and reports NBER figures that about 55,000 roles in 2025 were AI-linked, just 4.5% of 1.2 million US layoffs that year.
Predictions for the future of work
Sløk predicts AI will be net job-creating rather than job-destroying, expecting continued demand for human workers, particularly those with AI skills, and forecasting that May nonfarm payrolls could exceed the roughly 95,000 jobs generally predicted. He frames AI as raising demand for AI-implementation experts and lifting wages for AI specialists via the data-center buildout. The piece juxtaposes this with corporate leaders who expect shrinking headcounts, and with researchers who call an AI jobs wipeout 'largely speculative,' attributing many cuts to 'AI washing' and post-pandemic overhiring.
Originally published by Fortune · Jun 1, 2026
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