Draft2026Organizations, management and work

Positions, Not Tasks: AI, Accountability and the Number of Jobs

Niklas Wallmeier

Two kinds of positions. Where time limits the work, AI lets fewer people do it. Where someone has to answer for the result, the position stays and its holder delegates more.

In short

A job is a position that carries accountability, not a bundle of tasks. A simple model predicts where AI cuts headcount and where it only changes how the work is done.

Results

A job is a position that carries accountability, not a bundle of tasks.
Where time limits the work, AI lets fewer people do it, and headcount falls.
Where someone has to answer for the result, the position stays; its holder delegates more of the tasks to AI.

Cite

Niklas Wallmeier (2026). “Positions, Not Tasks: AI, Accountability and the Number of Jobs.” Work in progress.

@unpublished{wallmeier2026positions,
  author = {Wallmeier, Niklas},
  title = {{Positions, Not Tasks: AI, Accountability and the Number of Jobs}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Work in progress}
}