Artificial intelligence will not trigger a collapse in global employment despite growing fears that the technology will displace large numbers of workers, the world’s largest staffing company, Adecco, has said.
Adecco Group CEO Denis Machuel made the assertion on Thursday, according to Reuters, as the Zurich-based firm released a study on AI’s impact on the labour market.
The study points to record-high employment rates and near-historic-low unemployment across OECD member countries as evidence that the feared mass displacement has not materialized three and a half years after ChatGPT’s release.
The company is pushing back against a narrative that has gained significant traction as major corporations announce AI-driven job cuts.
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What Adecco is saying
Machuel argued that some companies are using AI as a convenient explanation for job cuts that are actually driven by weaker performance, restructuring or other business problems unrelated to the technology.
- “AI is bringing a massive evolution in the world of work, but a job apocalypse is not on the horizon,” he said, according to Reuters.
- “It’s more about changing roles and tasks than eliminating jobs,” he added.
He drew on the history of previous industrial revolutions to make the case that transformative technologies have consistently reshaped work without causing mass job destruction.
- “Previous industrial revolutions from the advent of steam, electricity, information technology and the internet have transformed work without causing mass job destruction,” he said.
- “With the data we have so far, there’s no evidence we will have a different scenario with AI,” he added.
Machuel acknowledged that some entry-level jobs are disappearing but warned that companies cannot simply cut junior positions without damaging their talent pipelines.
He said companies needed to reinvent such roles so AI can complement rather than replace them, with upskilling, reskilling and closer collaboration among companies, governments and education systems becoming essential to managing the transition.
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Adecco’s comments come amid a wave of layoffs by some of the world’s biggest companies.
Global giants like Microsoft, HSBC, Amazon and Standard Chartered have been among the companies announcing layoffs while simultaneously ramping up AI investment.
- However, Adecco’s study cited data from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showing that employment rates across its 38 member countries are at record highs and unemployment near historic lows, despite three and a half years of accelerating AI adoption since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022.
The finding challenges the dominant narrative around AI and employment, which has been amplified by a string of high-profile corporate layoffs in which AI has been cited as a contributing factor, though Machuel’s suggestion that AI is sometimes used as cover for cuts driven by other causes adds nuance to how those announcements should be interpreted.
What you should know
Adecco’s assessment comes amid growing global debate over artificial intelligence and its impact on economies and labour markets.
Earlier this month, Nairametrics reported that United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing faster than governments and regulators can keep pace with, raising concerns about the world’s ability to manage the technology’s risks.
Guterres said the rapid evolution of AI is outstripping the capacity of governments, regulators and even developers to oversee its development responsibly.
He called for coordinated global governance frameworks to ensure AI is deployed safely, responsibly and in a way that benefits society.
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