80,000 Hours is a nonprofit that provides free research, career advice, and a job board to help people find careers that effectively tackle the world's most pressing problems, with a current focus on AI safety.
Neel80,000 Hours is a nonprofit that provides free research, career advice, and a job board to help people find careers that effectively tackle the world's most pressing problems, with a current focus on AI safety.
NeelPeople
Updated 05/18/26President & Founder
Chief Executive Officer
Researcher
Business Operations Associate
Video Host
AI Governance Expert Advisor
Head of Video
Executive Assistant
Funding Details
Updated 05/18/26- Annual Budget
- $10,430,000
- Current Runway
- -
- Funding Goal
- -
- Funding Raised to Date
- -
Org Details
Updated 05/18/2680,000 Hours is an independent nonprofit that provides free research, career advice, and support to help people find careers that effectively tackle the world's most pressing problems. The organization's name refers to the roughly 80,000 hours a typical person spends working over the course of their career. Founded in July 2011 at the University of Oxford by Ben Todd and Will MacAskill, 80,000 Hours began as a student society before becoming a full-time organization in 2012. It was one of the founding projects of the effective altruism movement. The organization operated as part of the Centre for Effective Altruism and later Effective Ventures Foundation until completing a spin-out on April 1, 2025, when it became two independent UK entities: 80,000 Hours Limited (a not-for-profit company) and 80,000 Hours Foundation (a registered charity). 80,000 Hours' core programs include an extensive online career guide covering career strategy, problem profiles, and high-impact career paths; a podcast (hosted since 2017) featuring in-depth interviews with experts on pressing global problems; a curated job board listing over 800 opportunities in important fields; one-on-one career advising for engaged readers; a video programme including the AI in Context YouTube channel; and a headhunting and sourcing service that directly places people into high-impact roles. The organization's impact has been substantial. As of 2025, 80,000 Hours has reached over 10 million website visitors, amassed 400,000 newsletter subscribers, conducted over 7,500 one-on-one advising calls, and supported over 3,000 people in making significant career plan changes toward more impactful work. In the 2024 EA Survey, 59% of respondents mentioned 80,000 Hours as important for their involvement in effective altruism. Niel Bowerman became CEO in January 2024, with founder Ben Todd continuing as president. By late 2025, the team had grown to approximately 50 primary staff members. The organization's 2024 spending was $10.38 million, with a 2025 budget of $10.43 million. Its largest funder has been Coefficient Giving, backed by Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna, with cumulative donations exceeding $20 million. Since 2016, 80,000 Hours has ranked the development of advanced AI as the world's most pressing problem. In early 2025, the organization sharpened its strategic focus to emphasize helping people work on safely navigating the transition to a world with powerful AGI. Key focus areas also include biosecurity and pandemic prevention, nuclear weapons safety, and other global catastrophic risks.
Theory of Change
Updated 05/18/2680,000 Hours believes that helping talented individuals redirect their careers toward the world's most pressing problems is one of the highest-leverage interventions available. Their theory of change rests on the premise that the approximately 80,000 working hours in a typical career represent an enormous resource that most people underutilize for social impact due to inadequate career guidance and a lack of awareness about which problems matter most. By conducting rigorous research to identify the most pressing global problems (currently led by AI safety), providing free career advice and coaching, curating high-impact job opportunities, and directly placing people into critical roles through headhunting, 80,000 Hours aims to shift the talent pipeline toward existential risk reduction. The organization believes that getting more capable people working on AI safety, biosecurity, and other catastrophic risks during the current critical period will meaningfully reduce the probability of existential catastrophe. Each career plan change represents decades of future work redirected toward humanity's most important challenges.
Grants Received
Updated 05/18/26Projects
Updated 05/18/26
A video content program produced by 80,000 Hours that uses cinematic, long-form storytelling to communicate the risks of transformative AI to general audiences. Hosted by Aric Floyd, the program publishes on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
The 80,000 Hours Job Board is a curated listing of high-impact job opportunities at organizations working on the world's most pressing problems, particularly AI safety and biosecurity. It is a flagship product of 80,000 Hours, the effective altruism career advice nonprofit.
A flagship long-form interview podcast from 80,000 Hours exploring the world's most pressing problems and how careers can be used to address them, with a strong focus on AI safety.
Discussion
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.