AI Will Decimate Cashier Jobs In Texas Over Next Few Years

Artificial intelligence’s disembowelment of the creative industries is well catalogued, and medical professionals have begun to caution about the impacts the technology could have on healthcare. But a new report indicates that the occupation set to incur the most significant damage from AI’s unyielding growth and integration is cashiers, eliminating more than 28,000 jobs and totaling almost $800 million in projected payroll deductions in the next eight years.

The report from Priority Software follows new data from the Department of Labor, which indicated a rise in Texas joblessness, uncommon for the state that frequently touts its economic superstardom. But not even the Lone Star State is immune to a dampening national economy marked by job shortages.

“Texas is America’s undisputed jobs engine,” Gov. Greg Abbott wrote following the release of May 2025 Texas job market data that was in line with the state’s history of prevailing despite national trends. “Texas again leads the nation for the most jobs created over the last 12 months.”

Based on data from May, cashiering was one of the most popular occupational choices in Dallas, with 71,200 jobs total. However, estimates predict cashier employment will reduce by 10.6% by 2033.

“Increased automation from more powerful AI, allowing more self-service checkouts, and changing consumer shopping habits will be the major factors driving this decline,” reads the report.

Like it or not, self-service checkouts have become commonplace in most grocery stores and have even begun replacing cashiers at fast-food restaurants. But there are flaws in the mass integration of AI, which has proven to create opportunities for manipulation. Last year, a number of big-name chain stores, like Walmart, Target and Dollar General, announced they would be reducing their self-service checkout offerings, citing high theft rates and customer dissatisfaction. But still, it’s possible to go on a late-night shopping trip at a Dallas Target and see no cashiers.

Across the nation, 45 of 49 states analyzed produced the same results, and total cashier job payroll reductions equaled $11 billion by 2033. Unskilled, low-pay jobs like cashiering, which require minimal training and experience, are obvious first marks for AI to replace, but the technology has also invaded the private sector.

Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a career consultant firm, told CBS News that private companies in the tech sector announced more than 89,000 job cuts, a sharp increase from the year before. The firm said more than 27,000 job cuts have been directly tied to AI since 2023.

"The industry is being reshaped by the advancement of artificial intelligence and ongoing uncertainty surrounding work visas, which have contributed to workforce reductions," Challenger, Gray and Christmas said.

Aware of the economic risks, thousands of AI regulatory bills have been filed at the state and national levels, and none have passed. The highly controversial "One Big Beautiful Bill," authored by North Texas Rep. Jodey Arrington, tried to create a 10-year moratorium on state-sanctioned AI regulation, but the jointly approved version of the bill left this provision out, leaving the oversight of the tech within states' rights for now.

“It will be fascinating to see how accurate these predictions will be, since people will be faced with traditional jobs being much harder to come by, in turn requiring more training and flexibility in the roles people work in,” said Sagive Greenspan, CEO of Priority Software.

Customer service representatives and office and administrative support workers are next on the hit list after cashiers. Across all three occupations, annual payroll reductions will total nearly two billion dollars.

But software developers, the designers of AI systems, will only witness a growth in job opportunities, with payroll estimates increasing by $3.5 billion, with a 17.9% growth in the job market, or 27,000 new jobs in Texas.

AI has already chewed up and spit out dozens of jobs, but Greenspan says the changing scope of the job market may not be all bad. As the world adapts to new systems, other industries could very well emerge.

“It may be that many lucrative jobs in 2033 have yet to be established on a wide scale, so people in threatened occupations may find it useful to look at growth areas and how they can get in those fields,” said Greenspan.