A worrying trend is emerging among British workers as a significant proportion of them fear losing their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI) over the next five years. According to a recent survey by international recruitment company Randstad, more than 27% of UK employees are concerned that AI will replace their roles in the coming years.
The findings of the survey suggest that there is a growing mismatch between the views of employees and employers when it comes to the impact of AI on jobs. Two-thirds of employers reported investing in AI in the past year, while more than half of workers believe that companies are increasingly using AI tools to improve productivity. However, just under half of office workers think that AI will benefit companies more than their own job prospects.
Interestingly, younger workers, particularly those belonging to Gen Z, are the most concerned about the impact of AI on their jobs and ability to adapt to new technologies. In contrast, baby boomers show greater self-assurance in this regard. This raises questions about whether business leaders' decision to invest in AI to address skills gaps through automation is exacerbating the challenges facing younger workers.
The survey also highlights the increasing use of AI and automation in businesses, which is replacing low-complexity, transactional roles. While this may help to boost productivity, it also means that certain jobs are becoming redundant.
Despite concerns about job losses, a significant proportion of UK workers – 55% – believe that AI has had a positive impact on their productivity. Employers echo this view, with Randstad's CEO Sander van 't Noordende stating that AI should be seen as a tool to augment tasks and highlight the importance of roles that only people can do.
However, the survey also highlights a worrying "AI reality gap" between workers' perceptions of AI's impact on their jobs and employers' views. This leaves many workers feeling vulnerable in both their careers and the value they can add to organizations.
The pace of AI adoption is having far-reaching consequences for workers around the world. Four in five workers believe that AI will affect their daily work tasks, while job vacancies requiring "AI agent" skills have risen by 1,587% over the past year.
As Jamie Dimon, the boss of US bank JP Morgan, warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos, governments and businesses must step in to support workers whose roles are displaced by AI technology or risk facing civil unrest.
The findings of the survey suggest that there is a growing mismatch between the views of employees and employers when it comes to the impact of AI on jobs. Two-thirds of employers reported investing in AI in the past year, while more than half of workers believe that companies are increasingly using AI tools to improve productivity. However, just under half of office workers think that AI will benefit companies more than their own job prospects.
Interestingly, younger workers, particularly those belonging to Gen Z, are the most concerned about the impact of AI on their jobs and ability to adapt to new technologies. In contrast, baby boomers show greater self-assurance in this regard. This raises questions about whether business leaders' decision to invest in AI to address skills gaps through automation is exacerbating the challenges facing younger workers.
The survey also highlights the increasing use of AI and automation in businesses, which is replacing low-complexity, transactional roles. While this may help to boost productivity, it also means that certain jobs are becoming redundant.
Despite concerns about job losses, a significant proportion of UK workers – 55% – believe that AI has had a positive impact on their productivity. Employers echo this view, with Randstad's CEO Sander van 't Noordende stating that AI should be seen as a tool to augment tasks and highlight the importance of roles that only people can do.
However, the survey also highlights a worrying "AI reality gap" between workers' perceptions of AI's impact on their jobs and employers' views. This leaves many workers feeling vulnerable in both their careers and the value they can add to organizations.
The pace of AI adoption is having far-reaching consequences for workers around the world. Four in five workers believe that AI will affect their daily work tasks, while job vacancies requiring "AI agent" skills have risen by 1,587% over the past year.
As Jamie Dimon, the boss of US bank JP Morgan, warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos, governments and businesses must step in to support workers whose roles are displaced by AI technology or risk facing civil unrest.
. And it's not just the younger crowd, either - Gen Z is feeling the anxiety hard. What's crazy is that employers are investing in AI left and right (67% of them), while half of workers think it'll benefit companies more than themselves? Like, what's the plan here? 
I cant believe that more than 27% of british workers are worried about being replaced by robots! it's like, what even is the point of having a job if its just gonna be done by some machine? 
and another thing, why do employers think we'll just magically adapt to new tech and be fine with our jobs? that's not how it works! we need real support and training programs, not just some fancy AI tool to "augment" our work. 
I'm not surprised though, all these companies investing in it and whatnot. They just want to save money on labor costs, right? 
But what about the people who are gonna lose their jobs? Like, where's the support for them? We need some kind of safety net or something. 
I mean, Jamie Dimon is saying that governments and businesses gotta step in, but it's easy to say one thing when you're not the one losing your job to a robot 
. it's like we're preparing them for a world where automation is the norm and it's not even a consideration for human skills anymore 
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. what's even crazier is that four out of five workers think AI will affect their daily work tasks 
. and, get this, the gap between workers' perceptions of AI's impact and employers' views is huge 
... sounds like a mixed bag to me 
. And it's not just the job loss thing, it's also these new skills that everyone keeps talkin' about 
. I don't know much about AI, but I do know that some jobs are gonna get replaced by machines 
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, but it's crazy how fast things are moving! I mean, on one hand, AI is literally making our lives easier and more efficient (45% of workers feel their productivity has improved due to AI 
. It's like, what happens to those folks? That being said, I do think it's awesome that employers are investing in AI and trying to find new ways to augment human skills 
And what's really being done to support these workers? Just throwing more money at it won't cut it, you know? 
I'm still waiting to hear some concrete plans from the gov...
. We need to have open conversations with both employers and employees about this issue and find ways to make sure everyone benefits from AI 
. That's a great sign that we're heading in the right direction! But we can't ignore the "AI reality gap" – it's essential to bridge that gap and make sure everyone is on the same page 
. Can't we find a way to make this tech thing work for everyone? Not just the robots?