(The Hill) — Companies across the U.S., at least four in 10, are likely to cut jobs as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, new research shows.

A survey in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest “Future of Jobs Report,” found that because of the “increasing capability and prevalence” of AI, 41 percent of employers surveyed said they will “shrink” their workforce within the next five years if the technology is able to replicate the work.

“As we enter 2025, the landscape of work continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Transformational breakthroughs, particularly in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), are reshaping industries and tasks across all sectors,” WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said in the report.

“These technological advances, however, are converging with a broader array of challenges, including economic volatility, geoeconomic realignments, environmental challenges and evolving societal expectations,” she added.

The WEF’s survey also found that 77 percent of employers surveyed said they will adopt the strategy of “reskilling and upskilling” their existing workforce to work alongside artificial intelligence.

AI has captured the world’s attention in recent years, with the release of products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, shaking up preconceived notions about how it can be used in the workplace.

In a survey published last fall from the New York Federal Reserve’s Liberty Street Economics blog, 43 percent of Americans said they believe generative AI tools will shrink jobs as the technology advances.

The “Future of Jobs Report” survey included research from 1,043 companies, compiled between May and September 2024.