The anxiety over artificial intelligence's impact on employment has become a fixture of tech discourse, yet it rests on remarkably shaky ground. At Anthropic, one of the field's leading AI safety organizations, a team of societal impacts researchers is attempting to change that by building the first comprehensive dataset on how AI actually affects workers. The project, still in early stages, aims to move beyond anecdotal horror stories and venture-capitalist speculation toward empirical evidence. However, the researchers face a daunting challenge: the tech industry has historically resisted producing transparent employment data, and no government agency currently mandates standardized AI impact reporting. The Anthropic team is working with limited funding and unclear timelines, raising questions about whether independent research can fill a gap that arguably demands regulatory oversight.