New research shows the UK is losing more jobs than are being created due to artificial intelligence and being more affected than rival major economies.
According to a study by investment bank Morgan Stanley, British companies reported net job losses over the past 12 months due to AI were down 8% – the highest among other major economies including the US, Japan, Germany and Australia.
The research, which was shared with Bloomberg, surveyed companies that have been using AI for at least a year in five industries: consumer staples and retail, real estate, transportation, health care devices, and cars.
It found that British businesses reported an average 11.5% increase in productivity with the help of AI. American businesses reported similar gains, but they created more jobs than they cut.
This suggests that UK workers are being particularly badly hit by the rise of AI, as higher costs and taxes are also having an impact on the job market.
Unemployment is at a four-year high as increases in the minimum wage and employer National Insurance contributions reduce hiring.
A survey by international recruitment company Randstad found that more than a quarter of UK workers are now worried that their jobs could disappear completely in the next five years due to AI.
Young workers, particularly Gen Z, were most concerned about the impact of AI and their ability to adapt, while Baby Boomers – those born in the post-war years between 1946 and 1964 and nearing the end of their careers – showed more self-assurance.
Businesses surveyed by Morgan Stanley said they were most likely to cut early-career jobs in the UK by requiring two to five years of experience.
Earlier this month London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that AI could destroy vast numbers of jobs in the capital and “usher in a new era of mass unemployment”.
In his annual Mansion House speech, Khan said London is “on the sharpest edge of change” due to its reliance on white-collar workers in the finance and creative industries and professional services such as law, accounting, consulting and marketing.
Khan argued that “we have a moral, social and economic duty to act” to ensure that new jobs are created to replace those that will disappear, with entry-level and junior jobs being the first to go.
Last week Jamie Dimon, the boss of US bank JPMorgan, told the World Economic Forum in Davos that governments and businesses must step up to help workers whose roles have been displaced by technology, or risk civil unrest.
