Nearly half of accounting and finance respondents in a U.S. workplace survey said they worry artificial intelligence could replace their jobs within five years, while about one in five HR and recruiting respondents said AI had already led to jobs being eliminated at their workplace.
The AI Workplace Anxiety Survey, commissioned by TollFreeForwarding, surveyed 2,001 adults in office and knowledge-based jobs. The telecommunications company highlighted findings about occupations with large shares of women in an Oct. 28 release, following publication of its broader report Sept. 28.
The figures describe workers’ concerns and reports about their employers.
Finance and HR workers report replacement fears
Among accounting and finance respondents, 46.3% worried about being replaced within five years. That concern was shared by 43% of HR and recruiting respondents, 39.9% in customer service, and 34.4% in administrative and clerical work.
HR and recruiting respondents also reported changes in hiring: 25.2% said AI had slowed or reduced hiring at their workplace, and 19.3% said jobs had been eliminated. Among accounting and finance respondents, 18.7% reported AI-related hiring reductions.
Concern extended beyond the prospect of losing a current job. Among HR and recruiting respondents, 36.3% worried that entry-level positions in their field could disappear, while 31.1% believed their industry might eventually need significantly fewer workers.
For accounting and finance respondents, 32.5% worried their existing skills would become less valuable as AI improved. Another 26.8% feared their education or years of experience could lose value.
Across the full survey, 39.2% worried about replacement within five years. Some 37.7% did not trust their employer to explain how AI would affect their job, and 33.3% did not believe their employer was being honest about its AI plans.
Company raises concerns about women’s exposure
TollFreeForwarding.com argued that women could face an outsized share of disruption because they hold many jobs in the occupations it highlighted. The release did not present separate survey results comparing women and men, so those occupational findings do not establish that women have experienced more AI-related job losses.
The company cited Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational data. In the agency’s 2025 annual averages, women accounted for 78.3% of human resources workers and 79.6% of HR managers.
Women also represented 82.7% of bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks and 82.2% of payroll and timekeeping clerks. Among accountants and auditors, the share was 59.1%.
Survey measures attitudes across office roles
Opinion Matters conducted the survey Aug. 28-Sept. 1 among U.S. adults in primarily desk-based, office, corporate, administrative, professional or knowledge-based roles at companies with at least 10 employees.
The published methods identify the population and field dates but do not specify recruitment, weighting or a margin of error. Exact sample sizes for the occupational groups highlighted in the release were not provided.
Workers whose workplaces use AI reported a mix of effects: 45.3% said it reduced their workload, 35.6% said it made no meaningful difference and 14.6% said it increased their workload. Those percentages apply to respondents at AI-using workplaces, rather than the full sample.
Jason O’Brien, the company’s chief operating officer, urged employers to consider who is affected by automation and give employees access to retraining and new work created as AI changes existing roles.
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