I want you to imagine for a second that you are a hiring agent for your company. You are going through the extensive process of hiring, sifting through resumes and figuring out who you want to call in for interviews and one of those people is Person A. With a stellar resume, Person A is everything any organisation looks for however when it gets to the interview…Person A struggles in their role and reveals that they used AI to create their resume. Feeling catfished, you proceed to the next person – Person B, with a less impressive resume but an individual whose character exudes and possesses all the great skills, knowledge and qualities that you were looking for. Who do you hire?
What’s going to happen when individuals like Person A join the workforce? Do they struggle to keep up or are they able to learn on the job? In this article, we will look at the effects of AI in the corporate workforce.
In today’s tech driven world, many rely on AI for help; for solving your maths homework, giving movie recommendations or getting you a job. In fact, AI might be the one screening through your resume among thousands of others to find keywords that align with the qualifications and experience needed for the job. Google’s advanced AI department uses an intelligent natural language processing (NLP) algorithm to aid hiring teams filter through job posting and seekers through keywords based on several tags (job identifiers, companies, titles, locations, salaries, job types, etc)[1].
This helps cut costs and save time but AI still lacks the nuance present in human judgment and can fail to consider any unique circumstances or other contingencies. The lens that AI can examine information from can be biased causing “good candidates to slip through the cracks”[2].
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You’re hired! Now what?
AI is still taking over, enhancing resumes and cover letters making applicants look more polished. This can reshape the perception of what workers are capable of by setting an unrealistic standard of the raw skills, experience and talent in the workplace. This increased expectation can put pressure on employees who are now expected to work like AI, potentially causing burnout.
To stick to objectivity, one can argue that AI is a powerful tool in assisting employees in their jobs. It’s helping write, code and even make decisions – practically shaping careers. The influx of AI tools means that there is AI for any and every job; text, image, audio, video based and others that assist in data analytics, robotics and even science.
But at what point does AI stop assisting and end up doing your job for you?
Apart from obvious ethical, security and other economic risks, there are a lot of risks to the individual.
When the individual becomes so adept on AI, they are unable to build their skills, stunting cognitive development in areas like; problem solving and creativity. This causes skill gaps contributing to the overall decline in workforce capabilities. This can limit what employers you work for in the future. Such individuals will also struggle to change with the constantly changing industry.
There has already been huge industry shifts due to AI.
And even though AI is limited by the scope and nature of the data on which it was taught, it is able to learn.
Each time we use AI, we improve its intelligence, its adaptability. So, (in theory) each time we use AI to help us do our jobs better, we are basically training it to do our jobs.
Getting laid off?
AI’s impact on the rate of employment is a complex debate.
Raw statistics show since 1980, early AI and automation have already reduced wages by up to 70%. In May 2023, 3,900 US layoffs were directly related to AI.[4]A World Economic Forum survey in January 2025 revealed that 41% of employers plan to scale down on the workforce due to AI automation. The WEF’s Future of Jobs Report survey showed that 77% plan to retrain their existing workers in 2025-2030 so that they can work better alongside AI.[5]
This raises the notion of AI literacy. Organisations will favour individuals who possess skills that are compatible with AI and are up to date with the fast changing trends.
Many industries are vulnerable and already changing. This is broader than machines taking over manufacturing – it extends to white collar jobs.[6]
This is the most evident in customer service. Go to almost any site and they will have a chat box. Chat box utilise the natural language processing (NLP) algorithm to resolve customer issues independently, improving waiting times and therefore customer experience. We also see chatbots present in the healthcare industry collecting patient data.
Another major industry is the retail industry. Take for example Amazon. Amazon uses retail analytics to analyse customer browsing patterns and purchases so that they can recommend similar products to each customer, therefore maximising sales. Through predictive analytics and image recognition algorithms, it can also help predict product demand, reducing warehousing and overhead costs optimizing supply chain economics.
AI can also be seen in marketing and social media. Google, Facebook and other services use AI technology to better target their consumers. Recommendation engines are being used to offer personalized ads on a user-to-user basis. [7]
AI’s ability to create and push out novel content in any form is extremely evident on social media platforms. Tik Toks that have an automated AI voice will show the caption “AI generated content”. This also applies to Tik Toks that are entirely artificial intelligence (AI) created, including the video itself.
It is in the human nature to innovate to save time and make things easier and that drive led to the creation of AI. The jobs that were lost will create space for new opportunities to emerge.
New job roles that require AI literacy will evolve. These may include training AI ensuring its accuracy. Teaching AI to be able to constantly look out for new market demands/patterns and analyse and interpret data. Jobs to overlook the ethics of AI will develop among many others.[8]
“In the meantime, lost jobs are simply lost business.” [6]
Overall Economic Impact
In advanced economies, 60% of jobs may be impacted by AI, with half benefiting from AI integration. AI applications can lower the demand for labour, reduce the need for hiring and save wages. In emerging markets AI exposure is around 40% and in low income economies, it is expected to be even lower at around 26% as they lack the infrastructure and skilled workforce to adapt, increasing the risk of inequality.
Workers, especially young ones who understand technology and are able to harness AI better may earn higher salaries than those who do not have these skills, bringing in more profit for the business, widening the wealth gap. [8]
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People’s fear that AI would replace them is justified. But it is imperative to draw a clear line as to when AI stops assisting in jobs and starts doing them. A collaborative relationship between AI and humans must be created so that AI works in a way that enhances human capabilities, helping organisations thrive without reducing and harming the raw talent that humans possess.
Reference:
- Payne, B. (2024, January 22). Revolutionizing Recruitment: Pioneering Companies Harnessing AI for Talent Acquisition. Gem. https://www.gem.com/blog/companies-using-ai-for-recruitment
- Horodyski, P. (2023). Applicants’ perception of artificial intelligence in the recruitment process. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 11(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2023.100303
- Nadeem, R. (2023, April 20). AI in Hiring and Evaluating Workers: What Americans Think. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/04/20/ai-in-hiring-and-evaluating-workers-what-americans-think/
- AI. (2024, April 24). AI Replacing Jobs Statistics: The Impact on Employment in 2023. Seo.ai. https://seo.ai/blog/ai-replacing-jobs-statistics
- Olesya Dmitracova. (2025, January 8). 41% of companies worldwide plan to reduce workforces by 2030 due to AI. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/08/business/ai-job-losses-by-2030-intl/index.html
- Cecchi-Dimeglio, P. (2023, July 28). How AI Is Shifting The World Of Employment. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/paolacecchi-dimeglio/2023/07/28/how-ai-is-shifting-the-world-of-employment/
- 10 Industries AI Will Disrupt the Most by 2030. (n.d.). Spiceworks. https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/articles/industries-ai-will-disrupt/#_005
- Farrell, R. (2023, September 29). The Impact of AI on Job Roles, Workforce, and Employment: What You Need to Know – Innopharma Education. Innopharma Education. https://www.innopharmaeducation.com/blog/the-impact-of-ai-on-job-roles-workforce-and-employment-what-you-need-to-know
- Georgieva, K. (2024, January 14). AI will transform the global economy. let’s make sure it benefits humanity.International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2024/01/14/ai-will-transform-the-global-economy-lets-make-sure-it-benefits-humanity
