Mikael Markander
Skribent

4 in 10 companies plan to replace employees with AI, WEF says

news brief
Jan 10, 20251 min
Generative AIIT JobsTechnology Industry

The World Economic Forum warned of major changes in the labor market in the coming years, including an influx of new jobs that could offset those that are lost.

How AI is affecting jobs
Credit: Shutterstock/Stokkete

Forty-one percent of companies intend to cut their workforce in the next five years as many tasks are automated with AI, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs Report 2025.

At the same time, 70% of companies say they expect to hire people with knowledge of the new AI tools, reports CNN Business.

The WEF sees advances in AI and renewable energy as reshaping the labor market, driving demand for a variety of technical or specialist roles while leading to a decline for others. The shifts will also likely push companies to upskill their own employees.

There’s good news as well. According to the WEF forecast, while 92 million existing jobs will disappear by 2030, 170 million new jobs will be created. In other words, there will be a net addition of 78 million jobs if the forecast is accurate.