According to the latest research released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), companies show a significant ambivalent mentality when facing the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market. Although many companies believe that AI has the potential to replace some jobs, the vast majority of companies prefer to invest resources in employee retraining rather than lay off employees directly.
In this study, called the "2025 Employment Future Report", WEF conducted a survey of 1,000 companies around the world. The results show that about 41% of companies plan to cut jobs that can be completed by AI. More dramatically, however, up to 77% of companies will focus on training existing employees to adapt to the use of AI systems. This data shows that companies attach much importance to employee skills improvement than they rely on layoffs.
From an economic perspective, there is no significant difference in the importance of enterprises on training among countries with different income levels. Training is preferred by 87% of enterprises in high-income countries, while the proportion of enterprises in high-income and low-middle-income countries is also similar, at 84% and 82% respectively. In addition, although process automation is still an important part of the enterprise's transformation strategy, its popularity has declined. Currently, 73% of companies choose to promote automation, compared with 80% in 2023. Especially in high-income countries, 77% of enterprises plan to promote automation, compared with only 57% in low- and middle-income countries.
Looking ahead, WEF predicts that by 2030, new technology and market changes will create about 170 million new jobs, and although 92 million existing jobs are expected to disappear, it will achieve 78 million net new jobs overall. Chance. To cope with this change, 70% of companies plan to recruit employees with future skills, while 51% plan to transfer employees from shrinking departments to growing departments. Meanwhile, WEF estimates that by 2030, 59% of the global workforce will need additional training to adapt to changing job requirements.
It is worth noting that the research also points out that there are obvious limitations in AI automation. There are still many tasks that require human participation, such as tasks that require physical skills, meticulous judgment or interpersonal communication. Researchers warn that we should not rely too much on automation, but focus on improving human capabilities to ensure that humans continue to play an important role in the creation of economic value.
In summary, although the impact of AI technology on the job market has sparked widespread discussion, companies are more inclined to adapt to this change by training employees rather than simply laying off employees. This trend is reflected in countries with different income levels. In the future, with the further development of technology, enterprises need to pay more attention to the improvement of human skills to cope with the challenges and opportunities brought by AI.