Research done in the United States pointed out negative and positive effects among companies
Maeli Prado
São Paulo, SP (Folhapress) – The dreaded impacts of artificial intelligence on the job market are modest so far, with most companies reporting few layoffs.
The tendency is for the cuts to increase from now on, but the expectation is also more hiring of workers familiar with the tool, pointing to a scenario of relative balance.
This is the balance done by a study published by New York’s Federal Reserve (Central Bank) earlier this month, which dedicated itself to measuring the effects of AI on US workers so far – research has also been done last year.
The researchers interviewed companies in the New York region and in the north of New Jersey, and have come to the conclusion that 40% of service companies already use AI. The effects of this use on work are varied and can be both positive and negative, depending on the segment of acting of each company.
The study also points out that for those who already have a job, the tendency is to be trained for the use of AI, not replaced by it.
“AI is influencing recruitment, with some companies reducing hiring and others adding proficient workers in its use,” the researchers point out. “However, from now on, layoffs are expected to reduce hiring plans due to the use of AI increase,” they add.
The survey considered that companies have four alternatives in response to AI: they can fire workers and replace them with the tool, reduce planned hires, hire new employees who know how to use AI or return to their workforce for technology use.
Among the service companies, only 1% said it had fired workers in the last six months because of AI, a reduction in the 10% that said they opted for layoffs last year.
Nevertheless, 13% of industry companies have responded that they will make layoffs over the next six months because of AI use. “In last year’s research, the same percentage expected to fire workers, when in fact very few did this this year,” the study ponders.
In the case of the manufacturing sector, none reported layoffs or expect cuts for the next six months.
Despite the positive scenario from the point of view of dismissal, about 12% of the service companies they use have said they have hired fewer workers in the last six months.
“This is consistent with the discoveries of a regional Dallas Fed survey, which found that 10% of business executives reported that AI decreased their need for workers,” the study says.
“Interestingly, the reduction in hiring due to AI has been concentrated in jobs that require a university diploma. Such restrictions on hiring may be contributing small to reports of newly graduated struggling to find jobs.”
But this is just a clipping. Another block of companies (about 11% of those in the service sector and 7% of the manufacturing sector) said he had hired more workers due to AI, and 10% to 15%, respectively, expected to hire new workers over the next six months.
The study also pointed out that most companies say they do their employees to use the tool. “Just over a third of service companies and 14% of manufacturing companies report training workers in response to AI,” the researchers say.
The survey asked companies if they used it as part of their business process in the last six months and planned to use it for the next six. The researchers specified that by AI users, those who used the tool for marketing, business analysis, data management and customer service are understood.
The conclusion was that 40% of service companies reported this type of AI use this year, a 25% increase in comparison with the same survey done last year. Among the heard companies, 44% said they intend to use artificial intelligence in the near future.
In the manufacturing sector, the percentage increased from 16% last year to 26% this year, with about one third pointing that it will use AI in the next six months.
The use of AI varied a lot among companies in different sectors. More than half of companies in the professional and business information, finance and business sectors reported to use it as part of their business processes, while no agricultural industry has indicated the tool.
In the wholesale and leisure and hospitality sectors, about 40% to 45% of companies already use the tool, as well as a third of companies in the education and health, personal and retail services sectors.
Currently, half of service companies say they use AI -paid tools, an increase of 16 percentage points compared to the survey conducted last year. In the case of companies in the manufacturing sector, there was a leap of 39 percentage points in those that use paid tools to 46%.
