Older workers face the biggest threat from AI as technology replaces workers faster than companies can retrain them, according to Britain’s biggest business group.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned the technology threatened to destroy millions of entry-level jobs and disrupt traditional career progression, adding that inadequate support could lead to a wave of early retirement.
It said that despite their experience, older workers could struggle to adapt in a rapidly evolving world of AI.
The CBI report, which was written with consultancy Oliver Wyman, said levels of support in the workplace were the “weakest of all for later-career workers and those approaching retirement”.
The report added that current support for jobseekers had been limited to “general reemployment services” rather than offerings “linked to AI-related reskilling, sector demand and live vacancies”.
The CBI’s warning follows similar warnings from international studies.
Analysis by the International Monetary Fund found that older workers were far less likely to find work within a year of losing their job because their skills were more likely to be outdated. They are also less willing or able to take on lower-paid roles or to relocate for work.
Andy Burnham is expected to revamp Britain’s AI strategy to focus on how new technology can drive home-grown jobs. He is eyeing a move away from focusing on partnerships with major firms in Silicon Valley.
Reshaping jobs
The CBI report said companies would need to “redesign and reimagine entry-level roles and career pathways” to reap the benefits of AI.
“AI is beginning to reshape the entry-level work through which future capability is built,” the report said. “As routine analytical, administrative and drafting tasks become easier to automate or augment, businesses are reassessing the role junior employees can play.”
It added: “If routine junior tasks are automated before new learning pathways are built, the pipeline into mid-level and senior roles could weaken over the next decade.”
Official data suggest that AI is already reshaping the economy. Growth figures for the three months to June showed the fastest growth came from areas such as computer programming, consultancy, research and development and professional services, while more routine office and business-support activities shrank.
Rain Newton-Smith, the chief executive of the CBI, said it was important for business and Government to work together: “The next chapter of AI won’t just be defined by what we invent, but by how quickly we can put it to work at scale,” she said.
