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American workers tend to hold many jobs over the course of their work life — but those aren’t necessarily in the same field or occupation.
Between 2022 and 2024, 64% of workers who transitioned into a new job had changed occupations, job site Indeed found.
Last spring, around 7 in 10 workers said they had switched or considered switching career fields in the prior year, according to a FlexJobs report. The online job platform found that people were motivated to move into professions that were more fulfilling or offered additional remote work options.
Career switching is likely to accelerate, experts say, as artificial intelligence reshapes the workforce and families reassess the value of a four-year college degree.
Many people are trying to protect themselves from becoming dispensable as the role of AI expands in the workplace, said Erik Brynjolfsson, an economics professor at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
“This shift naturally leads people to re-evaluate their career paths, often moving toward roles that prioritize human-centric skills — like creativity and complex problem-solving — that AI can’t easily replicate,” Brynjolfsson said.
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