A recent study has unveiled the occupations most vulnerable to automation by AI in the upcoming year. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) conducted a survey with more than 2,000 employers regarding their recruitment, layoff, and salary strategies for the next year.
The findings indicate that 17% of employers anticipate that AI will lead to a reduction in their workforce within the next year, with 62% believing that clerical, junior managerial, professional, or administrative roles are the most likely to be impacted. In large private sector organizations, 26% of employers expect a decrease in their workforce, compared to 17% in the private sector and 20% in the public sector.
Among those expecting job cuts, 26% foresee losing over 10% of their workforce. Additionally, 22% of employers plan to make redundancies in the final quarter of 2025, while 61% intend to hire for new positions.
James Cockett, a senior labor market economist at CIPD, emphasized the transformative impact of AI on work dynamics, highlighting the need for nationwide efforts to retrain and upskill workers of all ages and career stages. He stressed the importance of developing skills to adapt to an AI-driven economy and urged the government and employers to focus on long-term workforce planning and skill investments.
The UK’s unemployment rate rose to 5% in the three months ending September, up from 4.8% in the previous quarter. This increase, reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), represents the highest level since August 2016, excluding pandemic-related distortions.
For further insights, the full CIPD report can be accessed through the provided link.