More than 1 in 10 employees have lost their job to AI

The impact of AI uptake is being felt in companies across the country but a new survey reveals that employees are still very much on the fence about it.

Kickresume surveyed 1,500 workers about their responses to AI. Shockingly, 11% of respondents report they have already lost their jobs because of AI. Another 10% know someone who has.

This is understandably driving fear. But the survey also revealed an optimism around the technology, with 57% of workers saying that they love AI tools.

These mixed results reflect how businesses are now facing a balancing act. On the one hand, there is the drive for technological uptake. On the other is the soft skills that human employees bring and should not be undervalued.

Who is using AI?

The Kickresume survey, carried out last month, reveals exactly how much of an impact AI is having in the workplace. More than half of respondents are now using AI tools every day. In the 2021 survey, this figure was just 39%. Meanwhile, a third of respondents use AI a few times a week and only 4% say they never use it.

The results also reveal a generational skew. Millennials and Gen Z are slightly more likely to use AI technology every day, with this figure sitting at 54% for both generations. This is compared to 44% of Baby Boomers and 48% of Gen X.

The research also delves into how much of an actual impact on their work respondents feel like AI is having. The results show that 35% say the technology has transformed their work much more than they expected. Kickresume adds that this was a finding shared across different industries and age groups, with “most workers taken by surprise by AI’s impact”.

The impact was also deemed to be positive for 48% of workers with the main advantage being time savings. A creativity boost was also a key advantage for 23% of respondents.

Love/hate relationship with technology

While more than half of the respondents were glowing in their review of the AI they deploy, this is balanced by some negativity. Nearly a quarter of respondents admit that their relationship with the technology isn’t always positive. 9% say they only use AI because they have to.

Less than 1% of respondents damn AI as “a stupid gimmick”, and these employees worked in Arts & Design and Education & Academia. Interestingly, these are also the areas where people have been most impacted by copyright issues as AI companies rush to find datasets to train their AI tools upon. As such, these industries are at the front of the battle between AI and humans.

The drive to upskill

While AI is not going away, the survey did reveal that employers are not pushing their staff to upskill. 46% of workers say their employer does not mind whether they use AI or not. A further 34% say they are encouraged to use it, but usage is still optional. Only 5% of workers report that using AI is outright prohibited.

However, employees recognise that change is coming and want to get the skills they need. The survey says that 37% would actively learn AI skills in order to stay relevant in their field. 28% will switch to an AI-proof career. This was echoed by a McKinsey report published in January, which revealed that nearly half of the workers it interviewed wanted more formal training in AI. More than a fifth said that they had received “minimal to no support”.

Getting the balance right

The sheer number of ventures doing exciting things in the AI space is a measure of how quickly this technology is moving. Tools like ChatGPT have become everyday names and their usage built into our working days.

However, exclusive Startups data indicates that 64% of 531 business leaders are more likely to prioritise soft skills over hard skills during hiring this year. This is one skillset that AI can’t replicate… yet.

With both the government and private enterprises now laser focussed on building AI opportunities in the UK, AI technology clearly needs to be part of organisational planning. But businesses which are planning to invest in AI tools should be wary of doing this in place of investing in their workforce.

Workers are obviously desperate to learn and upskill; presenting an opportunity to use the human capital that businesses already have rather than rolling out (for now) unfamiliar tech.