Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Artificial intelligenceLatest NewsHR transformationHR strategyJob creation and losses

AI has positive impact on jobs market, report finds

by Jo Faragher 20 Sep 2023
by Jo Faragher 20 Sep 2023 Most employers saw the potential of AI and automation to augment, rather than replace, jobs
Shutterstock
Most employers saw the potential of AI and automation to augment, rather than replace, jobs
Shutterstock

Artificial intelligence will have a positive impact on the UK jobs market, according to a research report from the Institute for the Future of Work (IFOW), Imperial College London and Warwick Business School.

The researchers asked more than 1,000 UK employers about their adoption of AI in the workplace, and the majority said this had led to the creation of new jobs.

More than two-thirds of respondents to the briefing paper – What drives UK firms to adopt AI and robotics, and what are the consequences for jobs? – felt AI improved job quality, but 83% felt there was a need for new skills to adjust.

However, its authors insisted that governments, employers and employees would have to be proactive in dealing with the pace of technological change.

Just under half (47%) of respondents said AI and automation had eliminated positions, and 67% said it had created new ones.

AI adoption

Gartner: generative AI wave will drive broader tech investment

Employees seek more guidance over use of AI in the workplace 

AI revolution? ‘What if I like repetitive tasks?’

“This report not only highlights that the adoption of AI is well underway across UK firms, but that it is possible for this tech transformation to lead to both net job creation, and more ‘good work’ – great news as we look to solve the UK’s productivity puzzle,” said Anna Thomas, co-founder and director of the IFOW.

A number of bodies have already come out with recommendations around the ethical use of AI at work, including the CIPD, which launched a guide in July.

The paper highlights that employers’ readiness for AI adoption and growth varies widely in different UK regions, despite the fact that high levels of readiness are associated with more positive outcomes. This could exacerbate regional inequalities, the authors found.

In organisations where AI had been adopted, there were equal rates of uptake between physical and non-physical tasks, it found.

One of the key recommendations of the report was that policymakers and employers should invest in HR practices that augment workers’ capabilities, rather than seeking to replace them.

“For employers and employees, the adoption of, and engagement in, a human resource management philosophy with high-involvement practices will unlock a positive attitude to technology adoption and the perceived benefits of AI, opening the way to better range of work outcomes including the creation of new jobs, augmentation of human skills and improvement in work quality,” it advised.

“Realising the benefits of technologies like AI for all will mean getting the right foundations in place across areas like digital infrastructure and skills provision in every part of the UK to enable and create high-quality digital jobs,” said Matt Robinson, head of nations and regions at digital business body techUK.

“Access to good digital infrastructure, as well as skills and talent, is a priority for techUK members, and the [report] provides welcome insights into their importance for creating good work throughout the country.”

The research forms part of the Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing, which is funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

 

 

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 

Change management opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more Change management jobs

Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
UK inflation dropped in August while pay settlements fell
next post
CIPD publishes manifesto for good work

You may also like

CIPD appoints expert in AI to boost support...

8 May 2025

How can businesses build protections for gig workers?

7 May 2025

Quarter of employees worried AI will threaten jobs...

28 Apr 2025

How can HR battle the rise in identity...

27 Apr 2025

Google concerned by slow AI take-up in UK

25 Apr 2025

HR teams build AI use but seek more...

14 Apr 2025

The future of work: is the UK workforce...

11 Mar 2025

New employment rights top priority for HR teams

10 Mar 2025

Singapore’s biggest bank slashes 10% of its workforce...

25 Feb 2025

What does the TV show Severance tell us...

14 Feb 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+