The onslaught of artificial intelligence is driving the winds of change in the job market

- With the destruction of old modes of employment, scope for new ones to emerge

Recruitment of freshers in three of the top four information technology (IT) companies in the country has seen a three-year low in the current financial year. After 3.90 lakh in FY 2022, 2.80 lakh in FY 2023, the number of freshers recruitment is expected to be 1.55 lakh in the current financial year. Larger firms are seeing more cutbacks in recruitment compared to mid-sized and small-sized IT firms. The reasons behind the decline in workforce recruitment include the onslaught of artificial intelligence (AI) in addition to the proposed recession in the US-Europe. India is witnessing a decline in new hires, but in the US, there are reports that technology companies have laid off more than one and a half lakh people by the second week of July this year. In 2022, this figure was slightly over 90,000. Due to the work from home system during the Corona period, there was a huge demand for employees in IT companies due to which recruitment increased in the last two years.

Reports on AI frequently point to the threat of AI to employment, but the exact extent of the threat is rarely available. There are various estimates of the impact of automation on employment, but it would not be wrong to say that the information coming in regarding the recruitment of freshers in IT companies is worrying. What does the impact on employment due to AI mean? There is no clear explanation in this regard in any study. India's IT services sector is not likely to see massive job losses in the near future, but the onslaught of AI is clearly changing employment in the IT services sector.

Automation has permeated most components of the IT services sector, but conflicting views are being expressed about its impact. There does not appear to be clear guidelines coming out at the government level as to what kind of jobs are being lost and created due to automation or artificial intelligence and what kind of education and training is required for them. It would not be wrong to say that to know how automation will affect employment and wage levels, one has to rely more on assumptions than specific studies. It cannot be denied that these assumptions may turn out to be wrong in the future.

The large-scale digital transformation witnessed due to automation has changed the employment dynamics of the job market, especially in the IT sector. As old jobs are being destroyed, new jobs are also being created, it cannot be denied that the situation will be seen due to AI in the IT sector.

A recent report has estimated that AI or automation will take more jobs away from women than men. The report claims that women workers will be more vulnerable to the onslaught of AI as there are more women workers in industries at lower wage rates than men. On the other hand, the proliferation of generative AI like ChatGPT threatens to impact white-collar jobs like teachers to financial advisors.

While it is currently difficult to predict what kind of technology will evolve and what kind of technology will die out in the near future considering automation in every sector, there is no doubt that the upskilling process will have to continue among employees, especially IT professionals, while taking the onslaught of AI seriously at the current level. Experts in the field of technology believe that it will be considered early.

Automation is being embraced by large manufacturing sectors but the amount of workforce skilling required will depend on the industry. But how can industry or government figure out where and how much to invest in upskilling in the absence of reliable data? How many jobs become vulnerable to automation? Such questions are also being asked from many levels and the answers are also getting different.

Studies conducted so far have yielded two main findings. One is that the job market of the future will be more volatile and uncertain. The pace of creation of new jobs and their becoming outdated will also be quite fast, so training the workforce will also have to be ahead of the times. Considering that the impact of artificial intelligence on employment is becoming a complex and wide-ranging topic of discussion, every stakeholder like the government, corporates and job aspirants have to think about it and take positive steps. While some jobs are being lost due to AI, some opportunities are also being created. But these opportunities can only accelerate with time and training.