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41% of Companies Plan AI-Driven Layoffs by 2030 - study

2030 Workforce Predictions: 41% of Companies Plan Layoffs Due to AI

41% of Companies Plan AI-Driven Layoffs by 2030 - study

Artificial Intelligence is going to strongly hit the global labor market and could replace many jobs in the next few years, says a report on the Future of Jobs by the World Economic Forum that came out on Wednesday.

A report, based on a survey of hundreds of large companies worldwide, said 41 percent of businesses predict they will be cutting their workforce by 2030 because the capabilities of AI are getting good enough to replace human laborers. Despite such layoffs, though, 77 percent of organizations said they could foresee reskilling and upskilling their people between 2025 and 2030 to work alongside machines.

The study estimates 170 million new jobs will be created by the end of the decade but also estimates 92 million will be displaced. The report says there is a high demand for workers skilled in AI, big data, and cybersecurity as businesses move toward a technological future.

"Generative AI and rapid technological changes are transforming industries and labour markets, creating unprecedented opportunities while at the same time presenting significant challenges," said Till Leopold, Head of Work, Wages, and Job Creation at WEF.

The report enumerates that progress in AI, robotics, and renewable energy systems will continue to drive demand for specialists, while other occupations like service clerks, executive secretaries, payroll clerks, and graphic designers are expected to decline sharply. Amazingly, occupations that have joined the category of the fastest-declining occupations include even graphic designers and legal secretaries, because AI is increasingly capable of performing jobs that require knowledge.

 Rather than replacing, the report keeps the focus on AI to augment human productivity. It also underlines demands that are continuous for "human-centered skills" comprising creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, and adaptation.

Yet, larger questions about AI remain. Experts have sounded alarms over the risks of these technologies, from the atrophying of vital human skills. Last year, for example, computer scientist Paul Graham warned that in the coming decades, masses may well lose the ability to write as AI becomes increasingly used for it.

As already pointed out by Daniil Gavrilov, head of Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory, T-Bank AI Research, in an earlier interview, though AI may be able to imitate almost all human capabilities over some time, employees need to focus on acquiring AI-related skills to stay competitive in the short and medium run.