Government strongly urges businesses to upskill staff amid job loss warnings
Job losses linked to the adoption of AI may surpass hundreds of thousands of employees, experts have warned, as the Australian government strongly urged employers to upskill their staff so they don't get left behind.
Top business leaders, policymakers, and thought leaders gathered this week at The Australian Financial Review Workplace Summit to discuss the impact of AI on workplaces.
Danielle Wood, chair of the Productivity Commission, informed the summit that job losses stemming from AI adoption are expected to reach about 4%, or roughly 600,000, of the country's 14.8 million employees.
More than 30%, however, would be augmented by it, according to Wood.
But Barney Glover, Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), warned that the job loss impact could be much greater than expected.
"It varies from occupation to occupation. I think we'll see higher than four per cent in automation, and we'll see higher than 30% in augmentation," Glover said as quoted by the AFR.
"We do need to, for example, look at a number of the data indicators that we looked at last year, and just to see how they are trending a year or six months on, because that's how rapidly we're seeing change."
Data from the JSA last year found that current generative AI technologies are more likely to enhance workers' efforts, rather than replacing them.
According to last year's report, the impact of generative AI on employment and productivity will vary based on workplace decisions, consumer demand, and policy responses.
"We're going to see much more augmentation than automation, certainly in the near term, and that's how it's playing out," Glover said during the AFR Summit.
"You'll see some sectors, we've seen that in finance and tech, where you see shudders in the labour market … when you see relatively large changes and redundancies. But across the entire labour market, we're not seeing that level of disruption yet. There will be disruption."
Employers urged to upskill staff
In the wake of these warnings, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth strongly encouraged employers in the same summit to upskill their employees so they don't get left behind.
"Businesses therefore have a responsibility to upskill their current employees, instead of replacing them with workers who already have skills and confidence in using AI," Rishworth said.
"Providing time and resources for on-the-job training will be critical for workers to adapt and adopt. This will ensure employees are not left behind, which is essential for building trust."
The minister made the remarks as she underscored that there is "real fear" in the workforce that they will be displaced from their jobs.
"Employers must address these fears by meaningfully involving their workers in the adoption of AI in the workplace," she said. "And importantly, supporting staff so they are in a position to adopt AI, not be replaced by it."
According to Rishworth, workers need to see the benefits of AI for them, and be confident that jobs generated by AI will offer secure and well-paid employment.
"Developing this understanding must be an essential first step for companies' workforce planning and design, implemented in partnership with workers," the minister said.
"Through that process, companies need to highlight how the adoption of AI will deliver benefits to workers."
Early findings from the government's assessment of the labour market since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 revealed that employment outcomes for young tertiary graduates remained positive.
The mix of jobs in the economy is not changing faster than usual, while the rate of growth for occupations that are most exposed to AI is beginning to slightly soften.
"Our Government is building the capability to track these changes, if and when they occur," Rishworth said. "My department will soon finalise a report on this data."
