180 Million Job Data Revealed: AI Has Not Affected Programmers, but Has Transformed Creative Occupations!

While everyone is talking about how AI will disrupt the workforce, what we usually hear are general predictions and isolated anecdotes. But now, a hard-hitting data analysis based on nearly 180 million job postings around the world finally lifts the veil: from January 2023 to October 2025, what jobs is AI really "killing," and which ones is it "empowering"?

First, a harsh baseline: compared to the same period in 2024, the total number of global job postings fell by 8% in 2025. This isn't caused by AI, but rather by the chill of the macroeconomic environment. However, the real storm lies beneath this number. When we delve into specific positions, AI's "precision strikes" become evident.

First to be hit, the so-called "bloodbath" has been the once-considered bastion of human intelligence: "creative jobs." Data shows that the demand for computer graphics artists (including 3D, VFX, etc.) dropped sharply by 33%, which is the second consecutive year of decline after a 12% drop in 2024. The positions of photographers and writers (including copywriters, editors) also plummeted by 28%, while journalists' positions declined by 22%.

But the story is not that simple. AI hasn't "killed" all creativity. The data reveals an astonishing "polarization": those truly hit are creative jobs at the "execution" level. Positions involving creative direction, strategy, complex decision-making, and client communication, such as creative directors, creative managers, graphic designers, and product designers, have seen their demand remain quite stable. AI is becoming an efficient "executor," but it can't replace the "decision-makers" who need empathy, strategic insight, and user research.

However, among the top ten jobs that disappeared, at least three roles' decline had nothing to do with AI. The drop in positions for corporate compliance officers (-29%), sustainability officers (-28%), and environmental technicians (-26%) even exceeded that of creative roles. This is due to a sudden political shift in regulatory and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) commitments in the United States. Interestingly, as tariff news spread, the position of trade compliance officers actually increased by 18%.

On AI's "suspected list," medical scribes (medical recorders) are in a precarious situation, with their positions dropping by 20% in 2025. In contrast, other medical management positions (such as medical coders and assistants) were almost unaffected. The most reasonable explanation is that AI document tools that can automatically listen to doctor-patient conversations and generate clinical notes are taking over their work. However, this downward trend is still short, and we need more data to confirm whether this is a long-term "verdict."

While some are leaving, others are accelerating their "ascension." Among all professions, one position has seen explosive growth: machine learning engineers. After a surge of 78% in 2024, its hiring volume increased again by 40% in 2025, becoming an undisputed growth champion. Behind this is the collective狂欢 of the entire AI infrastructure army: robotics engineers grew by 11%, research and application scientists by 11%, and data center engineers by 9%. This indicates that companies are moving from "simply calling OpenAI's API" to "building their own proprietary models."

The most counterintuitive finding in this data comes from the top of the pyramid. Despite the overall market shrinking by 8%, the positions for regular "workers" (individual contributors) decreased by 9%, and middle management positions by 5.7%, while senior leadership positions (directors, vice presidents, C-level) only slightly dropped by 1.7%! The higher the position, the safer it seems. There is also an AI shadow behind this: AI tools are giving executives stronger independent capabilities. A product VP can now use AI coding tools to quickly validate prototypes without needing a large execution team.

In the marketing field, when traditional channels lost trust due to the flood of AI-generated "garbage content," one role rose unexpectedly: influencer marketing specialists, whose demand increased by 10% last year and then jumped another 18.3% this year. As marketing expert Mark Schaefer said, our trust in companies is crumbling, but we believe in each other, and influencers are seen as "trusted online friends." Rand Fishkin, founder of Sparktoro, also pointed out that in the "zero-click everything" era where search engines and social networks intercept traffic, influencer marketing, a form of "zero-click marketing," has become a rare highlight. People are developing an "immune reaction" to the internet, turning toward those who remain "real" and "authentic" connections.

So, what about the jobs long shrouded in the "replaced" myth? Data shows that AI hasn't replaced programmers. Despite the proliferation of AI coding assistants, the demand for software engineering positions remained basically in line with the market benchmark or even slightly increased. AI hasn't "replaced" engineers, but made them more efficient, allowing them to deliver features faster and solve more complex problems. The only exception is front-end engineering, which saw the largest decline, possibly due to the rise of tools that can quickly generate websites.

Similarly, customer service representatives haven't been widely replaced. Their positions only dropped by 4%, beating the market average. The facts show that AI chatbots can handle simple queries, but they completely fail when dealing with angry, confused, or emotionally complex issues. After all, no company wants to end up in negative headlines because of wrong promises made by AI bots.

Finally, the performance of sales positions was mixed, but the emerging position of "Revenue Director" surged by 10.2%, showing companies' desire to optimize the entire revenue system rather than just increasing sales personnel. Under the surface of data, a highly technical position called "GTM Engineer" (using AI tools to build complex sales systems) achieved an amazing 205% growth.

In summary, AI is not causing a "flood" of widespread unemployment, but rather a highly precise "structural reshaping." It is ruthlessly "filtering" the workplace, leading to clear polarization: execution roles are shrinking, while strategic roles remain strong; traditional marketing is cooling down, while personalized influencer marketing is heating up; the situation for ordinary "workers" is the worst, while senior leaders are becoming stronger due to AI empowerment.

Original: https://bloomberry.com/blog/i-analyzed-180m-jobs-to-see-what-jobs-ai-is-actually-replacing-today/