The growth of artificial intelligence has led to as many as one in five businesses replacing mid-level roles with AI, new research from Barnett Waddingham has revealed.
The findings show seven in 10 employers (71%) have invested in AI or automation this year to improve cost efficiency and productivity and nearly two thirds (62%) are training their staff on how to use AI tools.
More than half (55%) of businesses have also built or bought AI assistants for key functions, while just 5% have a blanket ban on AI across their business.
Barnett Waddingham said many organisation view AI as a source of competitive advantage, with 36% stating that successful implementation would be the single biggest strengthener of their position as an employer of choice, ahead of improving their employee benefits offering (20%), successfully retaining their workforce (20%) or successfully recruiting the younger generation (15%).
As a result of AI’s growth, 18% have made mid-level roles redundant, while 17% report making redundancies among junior roles and 15% among senior staff.
However, two thirds (66%) are worried that AI’s growing prevalence will mean new entrants join the workforce without the grounding typically gained through junior roles. When combined with concerns about the shrinking availability of overseas talent due to immigration (64%) and domestic talent decreasing due to declining birth rates (63%) as well as increasing long-term sickness (68%), businesses face a looming “talent crunch.”
Paul Leandro, partner and head of people risk at Barnett Waddingham, said: “AI must be an enabler, not a substitute for a skilled workforce. The employers who gain the most from automation will be those who redesign roles so people and AI can work in unison – strengthening capability rather than eroding it. Becoming overly reliant on AI brings risks of its own; without human oversight, challenge and context, organisations can easily introduce new vulnerabilities into critical decisions.
“As more routine tasks are automated, the focus shouldn’t be on removing early-career roles, but evolving them. Businesses need employees who understand how AI works in practice, who can apply judgement, and who can develop the experience required to become future leaders. After all, experience and expertise, not just algorithms, will determine which businesses thrive in an AI-driven future.”
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