- Technology workers who used AI less regularly face an 18% risk of layoff, compared to 6% for more frequent users, a study has found.
- The research by Gallup said that only 1% of laid-off US employees cited AI as the reason they lost their jobs.
- Skeptics point out that the study is actually related to something else - adaptability.
Artificial intelligence has increasingly been linked to layoffs in recent months, with Wix and Cloudflare among the firms citing it as a reason for job cuts. But the biggest threat to employees may not be AI itself, but their level of literacy in the technology, a study has revealed.
Technology workers who used AI less regularly face an 18% risk of layoff, triple that of employees who used it more frequently, new research by Gallup reveals.
The gap also showed up across other sectors of the workforce, at 5% risk of layoffs for workers who don't embrace AI compared to 3% risk for those who do. However, only 1% of recently laid-off US employees cited AI as the primary reason they lost their jobs.
“That does not necessarily mean AI has played no role. Many workers cited reasons such as organizational restructuring, cost-cutting or the elimination of their role. Those explanations may reflect AI's influence on internal decisions, even when workers were not told that AI influenced the outcome,” the study noted.
Most employees said reasons for their firing were linked to restructuring, cost-cutting or other factors.
The estimates are based on a survey involving more than 23,000 US workers in February. This included 660 employees who had been laid off.
The findings of the study are in sharp contrast to how firms describe layoffs. A recent report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. stated that AI was the top reason for job cuts.
This highlights how AI adoption is becoming a dividing point inside companies, and will likely influence who retains their jobs when firms downsize.
Jim Harter, chief scientist for Gallup's workplace management and wellbeing practices, told Bloomberg that AI's role in influencing job cuts is still an open question.
“I don't think that's the right direction,” Harter explained. Some employees using AI could be more productive than their peers. However, linking performance evaluations to AI usage could prompt workers to overuse the tools in an effort to rig the system. “The real bottom line is: Are they more productive?” he asked.
Skeptics point out that Gallup's study actually gives an insight into something else - adaptability. Employees who adopt AI early may be the same ones who are engaged, adaptable and in resilient roles.
Whether AI fluency reflects an increase in productivity, a by-word for adaptability, or simply which workers managers choose to keep, remains debatable.
