THOUSANDS of workers could be at risk of losing their jobs as one in six employers expect to replace them with artificial intelligence next year, new figures reveal.
Around 62% of employers believe that junior managerial, clerical, professional or administrative roles were most likely to be cut because of the technology.
The worrying figures come from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the professional body for human resources.
Workers in the private sector face the largest threat to their jobs as 26% of companies expect to cut their headcount.
Meanwhile, 17% of private sector companies expect to cut headcount, while in the public sector the figure is 20%.
Among the companies that expect to cut their headcount because of AI in the next year, 26% expect to cut more than 10% of their workforce.
The figures follow changes in last year’s Budget which made it more expensive for companies to employ staff.
The National Minimum Wage increased from £11.82 to £12.39 in April, while employer National Insurance contributions increased from 13.8% to 15%.
Meanwhile, the threshold from which they were charged was cut from £9,100 to £5,000.
In response, companies have slowed hiring and axed jobs.
Last month Amazon announced that it will cut its corporate headcount by 14,000.
Beth Galetti, vice-president of people experience and technology, said at the time that AI “is the most transformative technology” the world has seen since the internet.
Meanwhile, PwC has slimmed down its global workforce by 5,600 in the year to June 30.
Among the jobs to be cut were accountants and consultants.
At the same time PwC spent almost $1.5 billion expanding its “AI capabilities”.
Recruiters have said employers are having to weigh up investing in new staff and being more efficient through automation and AI.
Research by ManpowerGroup, which shows quarterly hiring intentions from more than 40,000 companies in 42 countries, found that in September the UK was expected to see one of the sharpest slowdowns in recruitment globally in the final three months of this year.
It said this was because of a “perfect storm of cost pressures, AI disruption and policy uncertainty” before the Budget.
The CIPD suggested the government needs to support people whose jobs make them more vulnerable to AI.
Among them are workers just starting their careers or in lower-level jobs.
It also identified certain professions at risk, including finance, insurance, IT and administrative and support services.
It added that in the Budget and Employment Rights Bill the Government should avoid measures that could further cause companies to stop hiring.
James Cockett, senior labour market economist at the CIPD, said: “AI is transforming the way many people work and has great potential for improving productivity and performance, but it also risks leaving many people behind.”
He said that junior roles will be the most affected by AI but we need to retrain and upskill people of all ages and career stages.
The Government was approached for comment.
