A global report is pointing to an ongoing wave of tech sector layoffs driven largely by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence and workplace automation, with job reductions expected to continue through the end of the year.
The report estimates nearly 80,000 tech-sector jobs have been lost worldwide since the start of the year. This includes around 4,450 in Australia.
According to United States-based personal finance and trading education platform RationalFX, “Automation, artificial intelligence integration, and sustained cost-discipline measures continue to drive much of the downsizing, with entire departments restructured or eliminated in favour of leaner, AI-assisted workflows.”
Against this backdrop of structural change, industry leaders are increasingly stressing that workers will need to take personal responsibility for adapting to the new job market rather than relying on traditional roles remaining unchanged.
Microsoft ANZ chief technology officer Sarah Carney said demand for AI-related skills is accelerating, with LinkedIn, which is part of Microsoft, recording a 300% increase in job advertisements requiring AI capabilities.
Carney said Microsoft is responding to changing workforce needs with large-scale training initiatives, including 200,000 training opportunities in New Zealand, on top of 100,000 previously announced.
“We like looking at AI skills across the spectrum, and particularly for entry-level skills. Because what we need to be thinking about is, how do we transform the workforce we have.”
“We know that there will be changes to how people work. So now we need to actually think about how do we give them the skills for those new jobs that we see evolving, as they evolve.”
Carney said older workers are often well positioned to adapt to AI tools because of their practical understanding of workplace processes and where value is created. More experienced workers, she said, are frequently able to identify more quickly how AI can be applied effectively compared with those who have grown up in fully digital environments but have less exposure to traditional workflows.
“It turns out the older generation is actually really good at AI because they know what their job involves.”
“They know where the value sits, and it’s really easy for them to offload things to AI — the admin, the pieces that they never loved doing but had to do, and they can find value in a fundamentally different way.”