WEF: Global Workforce to Increase Despite Risks of AI-Driven Job Cuts

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Facts

  • According to the latest World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report, the global labor market is expected to expand by 78M positions, or a net growth of 7% of total employment, in the next five years.[1][2]
  • This comes as broadening digital access, technological advancements — artificial intelligence (AI) in particular — geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts, and the green transition are expected to produce a structural transformation in the job market.[1][2]
  • The international organization came to these conclusions after extrapolating from the predictions of more than 1K companies around the world, which were surveyed between May and September last year.[1][3]
  • Frontline job positions, such as farmworkers and construction workers, plus healthcare and education roles are set to see the largest growth, and tech jobs in big data, fintech, and AI are expected to double. Meanwhile, traditional clerical and secretarial roles as well as graphic designers are likely to face a sharp decline.[1][2][4]
  • Regarding the effects of the "increasing capability and prevalence" of AI, the survey found that 41% of the responding employers plan to reduce their workforce — with 77% planning to adopt the "reskilling and upskilling" strategy.[1][2][3]
  • On Thursday, Bloomberg Intelligence reported that global banks are expected to cut as many as 200K jobs, a net 3% of their workforce, in the next three to five years as AI further develops. Companies such Dropbox, Google, and IBM have announced AI-driven job cuts in the past.[4][5]

Sources: [1]World Economic Forum, [2]Forbes, [3]The Hill, [4]Business Insider and [5]Bloomberg.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by CNN. Despite the optimistic tone of this latest report, the undeniable fact is that workers are being progressively replaced with AI. And if one reads between the lines, the World Economic Forum does acknowledge just that. After all, unlike last year, the report no longer claims that most technologies are a "net positive" for job figures.
  • Narrative B, as provided by The Epoch Times. Essentially, the impact of AI on the labor market is no different than that of past innovations. Whenever a more efficient technology arises to benefit mankind, some jobs will be rendered obsolete and workers will be displaced — and that's exactly the evolutionary process of capitalism. AI and its impact on the global workforce must be celebrated.