Young workers have FOBO – fear of becoming obsolete, data shows. What’s causing it?

FOBO due to technology has risen among every demographic group surveyed, across education, gender, age and income level. — Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash

You may have never heard of FOBO, the fear of becoming obsolete. But younger workers and college graduates are increasingly feeling FOBO due to technology, recent Gallup data shows.

Overall, 22% of US workers say they are worried about technology making their jobs obsolete, the Sept 11 data release shows. That’s a 7% increase from 2021, marking the greatest two-year increase in this fear since Gallup began asking this question in 2017.