Logitech Survey Finds Tech Stress at Work as AI Roils Politics and Jobs

The findings suggest that hardware and workplace technology have become more important even as AI tools spread. Logitech said 81% of respondents believe having the right technology could mean the difference between achieving their goals and not, while 54% reported improvements in physical or mental wellbeing and 58% reported greater optimism about their future when they had more control over the tech they use. Logitech said 42% of respondents rely on hardware more than they did five years ago, a figure that rises to 76% among heavy AI users. The company called on employers to weigh employee experience during procurement, not just cost, security and technical specifications.

The survey arrives as AI is becoming a central political issue in the United States. The Verge reported that Democrats, who polls predict could flip at least one chamber of Congress in November’s midterm elections, are preparing to scrutinize AI companies if they win committee leadership. Top Democrats on key committees have signaled they would press the industry on tax credits tied to data centers and recent hacking incidents, and could call CEOs to testify and demand internal documents. AI issues are already appearing in campaign ads, particularly as data center development has drawn residents across the political spectrum to local meetings.

President Donald Trump has opposed most regulation of AI and favored an accelerationist approach, while public opinion polling shows widespread concern about how AI will affect jobs, education and other parts of life. Jesse Lehrich, a Democratic strategist and former tech accountability advocate, told The Verge that AI is “a hundred percent ready for the taking” politically, but he said it remains unclear whether Democrats are willing and able to seize the opportunity. Rob Flaherty, a former deputy campaign manager for Kamala Harris, said Democrats had long been afraid to talk about AI but that the party could profit politically by speaking to voters’ concerns.

Flaherty recently launched a super PAC called Tomorrow Together with Karthik Ganapathy, a former state communications director for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. The group launched a $4 million ad blitz last week in battleground House races, attacking Republican candidates as out of touch on AI and pointing to issues such as kids’ online safety and data centers. The group is also looking ahead to the 2028 presidential election. Flaherty told The Verge that his group’s polling found broad opposition to sweeping bans on state AI regulation, which Trump and congressional Republicans have repeatedly pushed. The Verge also reported that Democratic donor Ron Conway now regrets funding the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future, according to Jay Carney, a former Obama press secretary who runs communications for Conway’s venture fund. As of June, the group had spent nearly $45 million over almost a year and had $31 million left, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Some Democratic governors have also taken tougher stances. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order seeking to create an AI “kill switch” after vetoing a bill with similar measures, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro reversed course against data centers, The Verge reported.

For women, the risk from AI may be especially acute. CNBC reported that the International Labour Organization concluded in March that nearly one in 10 women in high-income countries works in occupations at the highest risk from AI. Ariane Hegewisch, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, told CNBC that AI focuses on routine tasks, numbers and patterns, which are common in clerical and administrative jobs held mostly by women. She said 90% of secretaries and clerical workers are women.

CNBC drew a parallel to telephone switch operators, a job that was nearly 95% female in the 1940s and once was the single largest occupation for white, U.S.-born women under 20. AT&T’s introduction of the automated telephone switch, one of the largest automation investments in history, helped eliminate an estimated 75,000 operator jobs in the decades after it was popularized. Economists James Feigenbaum of Boston University and Daniel P. Gross of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business studied census and paycheck data and wrote in 2020 that the shock “was to dispossess many of their jobs and careers.” Many operators ended up in lower-paying jobs or left the workforce, CNBC reported. But the economists also found that the next generation of women fared better, often finding similar-quality work in other fields.

David Autor, an economist, told CNBC that most people do not change careers often and that when a job becomes technologically obsolete, workers often take something not as good. CNBC also cited the washing machine as an earlier technology that changed women’s work: from 1950 to 1980, the number of employed women in the U.S. grew by more than 25 million and their participation rate rose to 52% from 34%, as new service jobs absorbed workers.