Many companies will employ fewer people in the next five years as a result of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a new survey released on Friday by staffing firm Adecco Group.
According to Adecco’s report based on a survey of executives at 2,000 large companies worldwide, 41% of senior executives expect to have smaller workforces as a result of AI technology.
Generative AI, which can generate text, photos, and videos in response to open-ended prompts, has sparked both hope and fear that it will eliminate repetitive tasks and render some jobs obsolete.
Tech companies, including global giants Google and Microsoft, have launched a wave of layoffs in recent months as they shift their focus to systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The Adecco survey is one of the largest on the AI topic, and it follows a 2023 World Economic Forum study that found 25% of companies expected AI to cause job losses, while 50% expected the technology to create new roles.
However, while most senior executives polled by Adecco believe AI is a game changer, the vast majority believe they have made insufficient progress in adopting the technology.
“Almost every job will be impacted by AI in some way,” Adecco CEO Denis Machuel told Reuters. “AI has the potential to both eliminate and create jobs.
“Ten years ago there was this big fear many jobs are going to be destroyed by digital, when actually lots of jobs have been created by the digital world,” he said. “Between jobs created by AI and jobs destroyed, we believe this is going to be balanced.”
Companies should prepare for the disruption by training their employees to work with AI, according to Machuel, rather than hiring outside specialists.
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