Unless you never follow the news, you know the impending impact of artificial intelligence has become a constant buzz in the news cycle.

One of the most salient issues that arises is its impact on the workforce. If you expect to work for at least another 10 years, will you have a job, or will AI turn you into a redundant human?

Prognosticators might be wrong, but some significant institutions that take a strategic view of this question are beginning to offer at least a glimpse of what we can expect.

A recent study by McKinsey has the proverbial bad news/good news outlook, depending on your position across the employment spectrum. The report makes it plain that if you intend to keep working in the next decade, you may need to change careers, preferably to one less affected by AI.

“We estimate that 11.8 million workers currently in occupations with shrinking demand may need to move into different lines of work by 2030,” according to Generative AI and the future of work in America, commissioned by the McKinsey Center for Government. “Roughly 9 million of them may wind up moving into different occupational categories altogether.”

Just as important are the questions of whether your current job will exist — and whether there will be a need for your skill set in the next decade.

Goldman Sachs recently reported the two fields that will suffer the most conversion because of AI’s impact include: office and administrative support (46%) and legal (44%). The least vulnerable fields are installation, maintenance and repair (4%) and construction and extraction (6%). These two latter categories are a promising sign for those in the construction industry, especially union carpenters. Robots can’t build buildings, and you can’t dispense with the need for skilled workers by moving job sites overseas.

What is intriguing about this impending transformation is that it coincides with the reality of the workforce shift and the ongoing pursuit by the construction industry to add skilled workers to the field.

Union carpenters, for example, have devoted effort to recruiting women and other groups historically left on the sidelines when pursuing a career in construction. “Historically male-dominated fields such as construction that are facing labor shortages can fill those gaps with more women, improving diversity in the process,” according to the McKinsey report.

What keeps union carpenters relevant in this changing work environment is the amount of training and continuing education courses available to remain current. The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters has a comprehensive four-year training program comprising classroom learning and on-the-job instruction. Courses range from construction math and geometry to infection containment risk assessment and new construction technologies.

While the impending impact of AI might cause concern in some industries, those who join the ranks of union carpenters and other trades can look forward to a secure future with good wages, pensions and access to continued training as the need for new skills arises.

In the end, those who will benefit the most from the AI juggernaut just might be individuals who secure their future job prospects by entering the construction industry alongside union carpenters and other trades now — before the AI hammer strikes them.

The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters is a labor union representing 42,000 construction professionals across six states. At our 17 state-of-the-art training facilities, we invest nearly $30 million annually to train our craftsmen and women to meet the needs of thousands of industry partners. Get our e-newsletter: eascarpenters.org/signup/.

The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters is a labor union that develops, trains and empowers the hardworking men and women of the skilled construction trades. The EAS Carpenters Union has a strong presence in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia, overseeing 25 local unions representing over 42,000 union carpenters.