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According to a new AI report<\/a> by Dublin-based professional services firm Accenture, 49% of UK executives are expecting artificial intelligence to result in net job losses over the next decade. At a time when companies as significant as Meta, Snap, Oracle, Block, Atlassian, and Salesforce are all shedding employees amid significant AI investment, such a prediction may seem distressing to anyone hoping to hold onto or secure employment. The thing is, most available data on AI\u2019s actual impact on workforces isn\u2019t as gloomy, and may point to a future where LLMs and other technologies enable a net increase in jobs.<\/p>\n The percentage of leaders specifically expecting AI to reduce entry-level roles has climbed from 22% to 37%<\/p>\n Looking at certain details of Accenture\u2019s report, we\u2019d be forgiven for believing that this future will not be bright for younger generations, who UK execs fear will bear the brunt of automation. Their outlook has actually worsened since last year, with only 15% expecting AI to boost entry-level positions, compared to 40% in 2024. At the same time, the percentage of leaders specifically expecting AI to reduce entry-level roles has climbed from 22% to 37%, underlining how the mood is only becoming more negative as far as more traditional career pathways are concerned.<\/p>\n Yet while there is an ongoing expectation that AI will ultimately reduce the number of jobs available to flesh-and-bone people, much of Accenture\u2019s report isn\u2019t as pessimistic, particularly when it comes to recording what\u2019s happening on the ground right now. And its data resonates with other recent studies and surveys, which suggest that AI may be having a positive impact on job numbers.<\/p>\n \u2018Intensive\u2019 AI use is boosting jobs<\/p>\n Delving further into Accenture\u2019s report, it becomes apparent that many UK companies are still in an exploratory or experimental phase with AI, which has yet to bear on their bottom lines. For example, 46% of execs report that AI has had \u201clittle to no positive impact on profit and loss,\u201d while 44% admit that \u201cat least some\u201d of their AI budgets are \u201cwasted.\u201d Meanwhile, 31% revealed that halting all use of AI would have \u201cno material effect\u201d on their activities, a sentiment which seems a far cry from prophecies that automation will eliminate entire job categories<\/a>.<\/p>\n 46% of execs report that AI has had \u201clittle to no positive impact on profit and loss, while 44% admit that \u201cat least some\u201d of their AI budgets are \u201cwasted.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of job numbers, a section of Accenture\u2019s studies examines listings, in particular looking at increases or decreases in positions that involve certain skills. In total, occupations whose postings mention, for example, such skills as \u201cbasic technical knowledge,\u201d \u201clanguage competency,\u201d \u201cbusiness management,\u201d \u201cwriting and editing,\u201d \u201coffice productivity technology,\u201d and \u201cweb design and development\u201d declined by 473 between 2023 and 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n Accenture\u2019s report also finds that occupations involving skills such as \u201cpeople management,\u201d \u201cAI and machine learning,\u201d \u201cregulation and legal compliance,\u201d \u201cquality assurance and control,\u201d \u201cbusiness strategy,\u201d \u201cteaching,\u201d and \u201cprocess improvement and optimisation\u201d increased by 1,149 in total over the same period.<\/p>\n In other words, the implication of this data is that AI is already having a net positive impact on total job numbers, despite the fact that LLMs such as ChatGPT have been around for only three and a half years. This may seem like a counterintuitive conclusion, especially when much of the reporting on Accenture\u2019s report<\/a> is latching onto the \u2018net job losses\u2019 prediction, but it is supported by other data.<\/p>\n Moderate use of AI isn\u2019t altering a company\u2019s propensity to hire or fire employees, while \u2018intensive\u2019 AI use is increasing the likelihood of hiring<\/p>\n Most notably, the ECB published a survey<\/a> in March of 5,000 European companies, finding that firms which \u201cmake significant use of AI\u201d are 4% more likely to increase their staff numbers, while firms that invest in AI are 2% more likely to take on more workers. Speaking to Raconteur, report author David Sondermann confirmed it was \u201cbroadly correct\u201d that the study also found \u201cno significant difference\u201d between enterprises that make moderate use of AI and those that don\u2019t. That is, moderate use of AI isn\u2019t altering a company\u2019s propensity to hire or fire employees, while \u2018intensive\u2019 AI use is increasing the likelihood of hiring.\u00a0<\/p>\n Similar data is available in other regions, with the UK\u2019s Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) \u2014 a trade body representing the recruitment industry \u2014 identifying growing confidence among recruiters, particularly in the IT and engineering sectors.<\/p>\n \u201cAPSCo UK data presents a slightly more positive picture than the ONS headline figures,\u201d said Global Public Policy Director Tania Bowers, speaking to Raconteur. \u201cThis is likely because our research focuses on skilled, professional roles, which have so far proved more resilient than entry\u2011level positions.\u201d<\/p>\n Bowers explains that isolating the impact of AI on jobs is still a difficult ask, not least because the employment market is facing a cocktail of pressures, including post\u2011pandemic adjustment, the war in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East. However, she does confirm that APSCo\u2019s members are reporting accelerated adoption of AI within their own businesses, which has caused drops in staff numbers in such areas as administration and early\u2011career recruitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAPSCo UK data presents a slightly more positive picture than the ONS headline figures\u201d <\/p>\n Tania Bowers, APSCo Global Public Policy Director<\/p>\n She added, \u201cIn some cases, this has reduced demand for entry\u2011level graduate and support roles as technology replaces or reshapes those functions.\u201d<\/p>\n Conversely, Bowers also notes that AI has resulted in \u201cthe emergence of new job titles and teams, particularly around AI governance,\u201d as businesses look to manage risk and accountability more effectively. This is exactly what Accenture\u2019s report suggests, and it supports claims that AI may create more jobs than it destroys.<\/p>\n Long-term future remains uncertain<\/p>\n Again, this conflicts with the long-term outlook of many executives, with the World Economic Forum\u2019s AI report<\/a> from January revealing that 54% of business leaders globally expect AI to displace workers, while only 23.5% believe it will create \u201ca large number\u201d of new jobs. Such percentages are certainly revealing of what execs may hope to achieve via AI adoption, but the current data would suggest that a jobs apocalypse is some distance away.<\/p>\n In fact, a March report from Claude developer Anthropic<\/a> found \u201cno impact on unemployment rates\u201d for US workers in occupations (theoretically) most exposed to AI. Similarly, a January study from Oxford Economics<\/a> concluded that evidence of AI-induced losses is \u201cpatchy,\u201d and that productivity growth has been \u201cweak and volatile\u201d in the US since LLMs emerged, contradicting what you\u2019d expect if super-smart AIs were replacing workers en masse.<\/p>\n Of course, whether job numbers hold up in the more distant future is another question, and it\u2019s on this point that many researchers hold back from offering bold predictions. In the conclusion of its blog post on the subject, for instance, the ECB\u2019s authors acknowledge that AI hasn\u2019t (yet) transformed production and operational processes in significant ways, but predicts that \u201cthis is set to change,\u201d meaning that the \u201clonger-term impact of AI on employment remains less clear.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we get that right, this isn\u2019t a story of job loss. It\u2019s a story of job transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n Ali Bebo, Pearson\u2019s Chief Human Resource Officer<\/p>\n Speaking to Raconteur, Pearson\u2019s Chief Human Resource Officer, Ali Bebo, suggests that the growth of AI could lead to higher employment levels, but only if organisations invest in people \u201cas seriously\u201d as they\u2019re investing in LLMs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real barrier isn\u2019t the technology,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s how we redesign work, build skills, and help people adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n Bebo adds that the companies that thrive in the future won\u2019t be those that simply deploy AI faster than others. It will be those that also \u201cbuild capability,\u201d meaning training and hiring people to make the most of new tools.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we get that right, this isn\u2019t a story of job loss, she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s a story of job transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n The WEF report also refrains from tendering any definitive forecasts, instead outlining four scenarios that range from \u201cstalled progress\u201d to \u201csupercharged progress,\u201d whereby exponential AI innovation results in displacement but also new occupations that \u201cemerge and scale fast.\u201d In the face of this uncertainty, the report advises enterprises to take various steps that can help them prepare for any scenario, including scaling what works, investing in human-AI collaboration, strengthening in organisational culture and transparency, and ensuring that talent evolves in parallel with technology.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n