Top 5 Jobs in Retail That Are Most at Risk from AI in Dallas - And How to Adapt

Dallas retail workers should pay attention to AI because global forecasts point to fast, task-level automation that disproportionately affects routine retail roles: the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023 projects 83 million jobs eliminated and 69 million created by 2027, and specifically flags cashiers, ticket clerks and data-entry staff as likely to decline by more than one-third as companies adopt AI and automation - shifts that matter in Texas where retail depends on these frontline jobs.

Upskilling into AI-aware roles or learning to supervise AI systems can preserve income and career mobility; practical options include Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work bootcamp (prompt-writing and on-the-job AI skills) and straightforward registration for the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp.

“For people around the world, the past three years have been filled with upheaval and uncertainty for their lives and livelihoods ... Governments and businesses must invest in supporting the shift to the jobs of the future through the education, reskilling and social support structures that can ensure individuals are at the heart of the future of work.” - Saadia Zahidi, World Economic Forum

Selection combined global employer signals with local deployment patterns: the team prioritized the World Economic Forum's employer surveys and projections (using the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 and the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2023) to identify roles flagged for high displacement and rapid skill-change, then cross-checked those findings against Dallas-specific evidence of AI adoption (image-to-product visual search, dynamic pricing and other store automations documented in local writeups) to score jobs on three criteria: projected displacement risk, task routineness, and observable AI uptake in Dallas stores; the result is a concise, risk-ranked list that reflects both global forecasts and on-the-ground retail AI use - and underscores urgency, since WEF data show six in ten workers will require retraining by 2027.

Dallas retail AI use cases and local automation examples informed which frontline tasks are already automatable locally.

“Governments and businesses must invest in supporting the shift to the jobs of the future through the education, reskilling and social support structures that can ensure individuals are at the heart of the future of work.” - Saadia Zahidi, World Economic Forum

Cashiers are the single most exposed frontline role in Dallas retail: there were 71,200 cashier jobs in Dallas as of May 2025, and a recent report projects roughly 28,000 cashier positions eliminated across Texas in the next eight years - cutting about $800 million in payroll and an expected 10.6% decline by 2033 - largely driven by AI-powered self-checkout and other automation that shortens the path-to-purchase.

Some stores already operate with no cashiers, while others cycle between adding and removing self-checkout lanes because of theft and customer frustration; that variability means displacement will be uneven but real, and workers without new skills risk losing steady income.

Employers and workers can respond by prioritizing cross-training and AI supervision skills; see practical rollout and reskilling options in Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work syllabus (practical AI skills for the workplace) and the local reporting on projected losses from the Dallas Observer report on Texas cashier job cuts due to AI.

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

Stock-keeping and inventory clerks face rising pressure as AI, smart shelves and autonomous mobile robots move routine shelf counts, price checks and planogram audits from people to sensors and machines: vendors now tout real-time, AI-powered visibility that catches misplaced or out-of-stock items faster than manual rounds, and the smart shelves market alone is valued at $4.77 billion in 2025 - a clear sign of rapid uptake (2025 smart shelves market report and analysis).

Shelf-scanning and RFID-enabled robots already boost planogram compliance and inventory accuracy in trials, and inventory-scanning robots can cut the time staff spend on repetitive scans while surfacing missing-SKU alerts that matter - US inventory accuracy is reported at just 63%, and out-of-stocks drive an estimated $634.1 billion in lost sales, so automation is not abstract risk but immediate operational impact for Dallas retailers (how inventory-scanning robots and autonomous mobile robots improve retail operations).

The takeaway: clerks who learn to operate, interpret and troubleshoot sensors, RFID systems and AMR reports will be the personnel stores need to keep shelves sellable as automation becomes routine.

Retail-facing customer service representatives are increasingly exposed as AI takes over routine inquiries: industry reports show chatbots and conversational AI are already the top customer experience investment priorities and large-scale deployments are accelerating, with companies reporting dramatic containment of simple queries and even enterprise leaders saying AI now handles a large share of service traffic (CX Network report on AI handling customer service interactions).

Retail coverage finds 74% of companies implementing chatbots and cites sharp gains in speed, cost savings and handle rates that turn high-volume questions - order status, returns, basic troubleshooting - into automated workflows, leaving humans only the complex, emotional or exception cases (Retail Revolt analysis of chatbot adoption and impacts).

So what: for Dallas and Texas stores this means fewer repeat-answer shifts and more demand for staff who can manage AI escalations, interpret real-time AI insights, and deliver empathy-driven resolutions - skills that preserve higher wages even as routine roles shrink.

“Jobs will change, and as with every major technological shift, some will go away - and new ones will emerge.” - Marc Benioff

Retail salespersons and floor staff are increasingly at risk as AI shortens the path-to-purchase: image-to-product visual search, in-store chatbots and AI “store companion” assistants can answer product questions, surface recommendations and even locate stock without a human intermediary, turning routine on-the-floor tasks into automated workflows; Dallas stores that deploy visual search and dynamic pricing shave friction from purchase journeys and raise conversion, which can lower demand for traditional floor-selling while raising demand for higher-skill roles (AI supervision, experiential selling, and escalation handling).

At the same time, industry reporting shows retailers are explicitly using AI to augment - not just replace - associates by moving repetitive work to machines and freeing staff for relationship-driven service and personalized experiences, so the practical takeaway for Dallas workers is clear: learn to operate and coach AI tools, master upsell and experience-led selling, and join workforce-enablement programs that embed training in daily shifts to preserve wage potential.

For context on how vendors and chains are reshaping the floor, see reporting on AI tools that empower sales associates (SupplyChainBrain), omnichannel and visual-search trends from ASD Market Week, and local Dallas use cases for image-to-product visual search.

“We want to improve the everyday working lives of on-the-floor store workers.” - Meredith Jordan, VP of Engineering, Target

Data entry and back-office administrative clerks sit among the most vulnerable Dallas retail roles because their daily tasks - structured data entry, record-keeping and routine forms processing - map neatly onto existing automation tools; national analyses warn that AI “could eliminate half of entry-level white‑collar jobs” in the near term, and local reporting flags office and administrative support as the top category at risk in Texas metros like Dallas (AI job-loss predictions analysis (Aimultiple), Report: AI threat to Texas jobs (Texas Standard)).

The practical consequence: even as the Texas Employment Forecast (Dallas Fed) projects a net gain of about 279,600 jobs (2.0%) in 2025, displaced clerical workers may still face long spells of lower pay unless they reskill into AI‑adjacent roles - data validation, workflow automation oversight, or entry-level analytics - skills that protect income and create a clear pathway to supervisory, higher‑wage work.

“There are some roles that are related to administration, record keeping – positions like data entry, accounting, bookkeeping – those could be especially on the radar in the sense of being susceptible to at least some type of disruption.”

Five practical next steps for Dallas retail workers and employers: 1) Treat reskilling as urgent - the WEF projects net churn (83 million jobs lost, 69 million created) and Dallas alone has 71,200 cashiers with ~28,000 Texas cashier losses projected, so prioritize short, job-focused training such as Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work bootcamp (15-week practical AI skills and prompt-writing) - register for the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp at https://url.nucamp.co/aw; 2) Employers should co-fund shift-friendly upskilling and on-the-job apprenticeships that move clerks into AI supervision, inventory-robot operation and escalation handling; 3) Start small, measured pilots - deploy image-to-product visual search or dynamic pricing in one store, track lift and redeploy staff into higher-value roles (see Dallas retail AI use cases: visual search & dynamic pricing); 4) Cross-train clerks and customer-service reps on real-time AI monitoring, RFID and AMR troubleshooting to retain wages as routine tasks automate; 5) Coordinate with community colleges and workforce boards, measure outcomes, and keep human-centered roles (empathy, complex problem solving) as a hiring priority - because proactive retraining is the clearest path to keep Dallas workers employed and employers competitive in a rapidly changing Texas market (see the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2023 on job churn at https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/digest/).

Bootcamp details - AI Essentials for Work: Length: 15 Weeks. Early bird cost: $3,582. Register: https://url.nucamp.co/aw.

“For people around the world, the past three years have been filled with upheaval and uncertainty for their lives and livelihoods ... Governments and businesses must invest in supporting the shift to the jobs of the future through the education, reskilling and social support structures that can ensure individuals are at the heart of the future of work.” - Saadia Zahidi, World Economic Forum