# ADP Research argues knowledge work is still expanding [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/adp-research-argues-knowledge-work-is-still-expanding-0c1e7857) ADP Research’s article, published April 21, 2026, argues that knowledge work has continued to expand as a share of U.S. employment despite concern that artificial intelligence could shrink white-collar jobs. ADP Research defines knowledge workers as people with freedom to use their expertise to create something new. The article says the recent decline in professional and business services’ share of employment reflects losses in administrative and support roles, which it does not classify as knowledge work, rather than a broad retreat in skilled work. Within the sector, legal, accounting and several other professional roles lost share, while computer-related work and science and research gained ground. ADP Research also says its research finds knowledge workers less intimidated by artificial intelligence than other workers when it comes to job security, though advances in AI are challenging their positive employment outlook. Its conclusion is that “Rumors of the death of knowledge work are greatly exaggerated. At least for now.” The article does not establish how artificial intelligence will affect knowledge workers’ employment or job security over time. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source ADP Research · Article Original source date: Apr 21, 2026 (2026-04-21). Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-07T08:33:23.787Z. First observed: 2026-10-29T02:41:41.241Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T16:40:06.362Z. - [The rise – and rise – of knowledge work](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published April 21, 2026. The article reports employment shares and ADP Research’s findings, but does not establish how AI will affect knowledge workers’ employment or job security over time. ## Open question How will artificial intelligence affect knowledge workers’ employment and job security over time? ## Source-stated ADP Research says knowledge work has continued to expand as a share of U.S. employment, contrary to concern about its decline. > But contrary to conventional wisdom, knowledge work has continued to expand as a share of U.S. employment. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research defines knowledge workers as people who have some freedom to use their expertise to create something new. > At ADP Research, we define knowledge workers as people who have a level of freedom to use their expertise to create something new. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research attributes the recent employment-share decline in professional services to administrative and support roles, which it says are not categorized as knowledge work. > That’s because recent job losses in this supersector can be traced to reductions in administrative and support roles, a category that includes office managers, janitors, and security guards. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research reports that the share of professional, scientific, and technical services grew by more than seven percentage points over the period it describes. > Over the same period, the share of people in highly skilled work tied to professional, scientific, and technical services climbed more than 7 percentage points. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research says its research finds knowledge workers less intimidated by AI adoption than other workers when it comes to job security. > But our research shows that knowledge workers are less intimidated by the rapid adoption of AI than other types of workers, at least when it comes to job security. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source and contributor context ADP Research · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: abc10e0d-1742-6af1-22d5-a06496aef106. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-07T08:28:40.431Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: 0a911b5c5f19a15c31f99401a68bfad358c0e457c5fe9b6948030ef8e59da700. Source text hash: c9d73638570ddd86a2307b3cb268ed0b49fdbca8702f4d42fb33c5e41b5b8c51. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-07T08:33:23.787Z ADP Research’s article, published April 21, 2026, argues that knowledge work has continued to expand as a share of U.S. employment despite concern that artificial intelligence could shrink white-collar jobs. ADP Research defines knowledge workers as people with freedom to use their expertise to create something new. The article says the recent decline in professional and business services’ share of employment reflects losses in administrative and support roles, which it does not classify as knowledge work, rather than a broad retreat in skilled work. Within the sector, legal, accounting and several other professional roles lost share, while computer-related work and science and research gained ground. ADP Research also says its research finds knowledge workers less intimidated by artificial intelligence than other workers when it comes to job security, though advances in AI are challenging their positive employment outlook. Its conclusion is that “Rumors of the death of knowledge work are greatly exaggerated. At least for now.” The article does not establish how artificial intelligence will affect knowledge workers’ employment or job security over time. ## Original source ADP Research · Article Original source date: Apr 21, 2026 (2026-04-21). Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-07T08:33:23.787Z. First observed: 2026-10-29T02:41:41.241Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T16:40:06.362Z. - [The rise – and rise – of knowledge work](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published April 21, 2026. The article reports employment shares and ADP Research’s findings, but does not establish how AI will affect knowledge workers’ employment or job security over time. ## Open question How will artificial intelligence affect knowledge workers’ employment and job security over time? ## Source-stated ADP Research says knowledge work has continued to expand as a share of U.S. employment, contrary to concern about its decline. > But contrary to conventional wisdom, knowledge work has continued to expand as a share of U.S. employment. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research defines knowledge workers as people who have some freedom to use their expertise to create something new. > At ADP Research, we define knowledge workers as people who have a level of freedom to use their expertise to create something new. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research attributes the recent employment-share decline in professional services to administrative and support roles, which it says are not categorized as knowledge work. > That’s because recent job losses in this supersector can be traced to reductions in administrative and support roles, a category that includes office managers, janitors, and security guards. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research reports that the share of professional, scientific, and technical services grew by more than seven percentage points over the period it describes. > Over the same period, the share of people in highly skilled work tied to professional, scientific, and technical services climbed more than 7 percentage points. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source-stated ADP Research says its research finds knowledge workers less intimidated by AI adoption than other workers when it comes to job security. > But our research shows that knowledge workers are less intimidated by the rapid adoption of AI than other types of workers, at least when it comes to job security. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/the-rise-and-rise-of-knowledge-work) ## Source and contributor context ADP Research · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: abc10e0d-1742-6af1-22d5-a06496aef106. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-07T08:28:40.431Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: 0a911b5c5f19a15c31f99401a68bfad358c0e457c5fe9b6948030ef8e59da700. Source text hash: c9d73638570ddd86a2307b3cb268ed0b49fdbca8702f4d42fb33c5e41b5b8c51. ### passed — 2026-11-07T08:28:40.431Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: abc10e0d-1742-6af1-22d5-a06496aef106 attribution — pass: The reading attributes the article and its claims to ADP Research, the publisher of this single Main Street Macro piece. Its arguments, data citations and conclusion are kept as source assertions rather than established facts. > At ADP Research, we define knowledge workers as people who have a level of freedom to use their expertise to create something new. summary — pass: The title, summary and question match the source's thesis. The summary covers the reframing of the supersector decline as administrative and support losses, the split between legal and accounting roles losing share and tech and science roles gaining, the AI sentiment finding, and the hedged conclusion. Key terms are defined in plain language, so a non-specialist can follow it. Paraphrasing the challenged 'positive traits' as a 'positive employment outlook' is acceptable. The question is a genuine open issue. > These positive traits now are being challenged by advances in artificial intelligence and its growing influence on creative and innovation-oriented work. date — pass: The reading states April 21, 2026, at day precision, matching evidence.originalPublished. In-text dates (data for the four weeks ending April 4, 2026, and preliminary April sentiment) are consistent with that date. There is no hindsight framing, and the retrieval date is disclosed separately. The kind is publisher-page, so no archive disclosure is needed. > For the four weeks ending April 4, 2026, U.S. private employers added an average of 54,750 jobs a week. support — pass: Each claim is supported by a verbatim excerpt and stays attributed. The seven-point rise is framed as being over the period the source describes. The reading adds no unsupported benefits, costs or forecasts, and it explicitly says the article does not establish AI's future effects. > Over the same period, the share of people in highly skilled work tied to professional, scientific, and technical services climbed more than 7 percentage points. media — pass: No media was selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied. This is appropriate. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/0c1e7857fb7c0e41de9d724d8c8108f7cb229c2e3ab2277c5529b5d8dea072fd/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/adp-research-argues-knowledge-work-is-still-expanding-0c1e7857.json)