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Some 41% of senior executives expect to have smaller workforces
because of AI technology, Adecco said in a report based on a
survey of executives at 2,000 large companies worldwide.
Generative AI, which can create text, photos and videos in
response to open-ended prompts, has spurred both hope it could
eliminate repetitive tasks and fear it will make some jobs
obsolete.
Tech companies, including global giants Google and Microsoft,
have embarked on a wave of layoffs in recent months as they
shift their focus to systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's
chatbot Gemini.
The Adecco survey is one of the largest into the AI topic, and
follows a 2023 World Economic Forum study which said 25% of
companies expected AI to trigger job losses, while 50% expected
the technology to create new roles.
But while most senior executives surveyed by Adecco say AI is a
game changer, the vast majority say they have not made enough
progress in adopting the technology.
"Almost all jobs are going to be impacted by AI one way or
another," Adecco CEO Denis Machuel told Reuters. "AI can be a
job killer and it can also be a job creator.
"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 needed to prepare for the disruption by training their
staff to work with AI, Machuel said, rather than relying on
recruiting specialists from outside.
Adecco polled businesses in the United States, Britain, France,
Germany, Japan, Spain, Canada, Australia and Singapore. Sectors
covered included defense, pharma, healthcare, industry and
logistics.
The Swiss company, which uses AI itself, for example in helping
create resumes for clients, also sees the technology offering
"massive opportunity" in its work with customers.
"We already engaged in training and up-skilling people on behalf
of our clients," Machuel said. "We've sold a lot of consulting
projects and the ramp-up that we see on that is quite
interesting."
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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