This year’s labour market report from the OECD flags the impact of AI on jobs for the first time, finding that “27% of jobs are in occupations at high-risk of automation”.
It is good to see the focus on retraining or upskilling the existing workforce, as shown in the graphic above. The dependency on hiring new workers, however, is worrying as there simply aren’t enough people trained in using data and AI tools to fill the new vacancies.
The news isn’t all bad as the OECD’s survey of workers’ views on AI found it increased enjoyment, performance and mental health.
Not surprisingly, people were worried about how their jobs could be impacted over the next 10 years. We strongly agree with the OECD’s recommendation that ” Governments should encourage employers to provide more training, integrate AI skills into education, and support diversity in the AI workforce”. The focus to date on education at school, college and university level is a good start, but to make AI really effective we need today’s workforce to be equipped to use AI tools quickly. We would not expect any government to pay for that in its entirety, but we hope to see some incentives for employers to invest considerably more in these vital skills.
