Major Tech Firms Join Public-Private Coalition to Reskill AI-Displaced Workers

A new nonprofit, RAISE US, was announced as a joint effort among state governments, AI firms and major employers to “train, transition and thrive” in an AI-powered economy. Anchor partners include Amazon, Anthropic and Microsoft; additional supporters listed are ADP, AMD, Autodesk, Bank of America, Blackstone, Boston Consulting Group, Cisco, Cognizant, Deloitte, Eli Lilly and Company, General Motors, IBM, Infosys, Mastercard, Rockwell Automation, ServiceNow, UPS and Workday. The coalition will pilot reskilling and redeployment programs while exploring regulatory changes such as updates to unemployment insurance and potential employer incentives.

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Mass layoffs have been linked to AI integration, prompting concerns about workforce displacement. RAISE US estimates that more than three-quarters of employers plan to upskill their current staff amid AI disruption. The organization cites a projection of 50 million American jobs as “vulnerable” to AI, contrasted with an expectation that the technology will generate 78 million net new jobs worldwide by 2030.

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• Vulnerable U.S. jobs: 50 million (RAISE US estimate)

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• Net new global jobs by 2030: 78 million (RAISE US estimate)

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• Employer upskilling intent: >75 % plan to upskill staff (RAISE US estimate)

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Amazon highlighted its $2.5 billion Future Ready 2030 initiative, noting past upskilling of 31 million people worldwide, including 700 000 Amazon employees. The company framed the RAISE US partnership as a necessary complement to its own recent 10 % workforce reduction. Walmart’s chief people officer, Donna Morris, referenced the company’s 2024 Opportunity Summit as a model for cross-industry collaboration on frontline-worker skills, emphasizing the broader benefit of shared employer efforts.

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• “We believe this commitment to people is one of the most important investments we can make—both right now and for the workforce of the future, and we’re optimistic about what [AI] can do for people,” — Amazon spokesperson

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• “The transition to an AI-driven economy will create enormous opportunity, but only if we invest now in helping workers develop the skills to seize it.” — Amazon spokesperson

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• “Coalition members are champions for workforce transition and co-design the pilots that build a shared understanding of what effective worker transition looks like in practice,” — RAISE US press release

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• “Work gives a lot of people purpose—and if employers can come together to talk about how we reshape for the future, how we equip our workforces for the future, it not only strengthens one company, it strengthens the workforce more broadly,” — Donna Morris, chief people officer, Walmart

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