Generative AI a bigger threat to select white-collar jobs
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In India, Gen AI could be deployed to handle around 30% or more of the time spent on tasks involved in the working week of some white-collar roles. In comparison, in many cases, less than 1% of a blue-collar worker's job in a working week could be done by GenAI, the report says.
Generative AI is poised to have a more profound impact on certain white-collar jobs than blue-collar ones in the next ten years, showed new workplace research from learning company Pearson.
Blue collar roles - especially those requiring more creative, manual, and collaborative tasks – are likely to face less disruptions from the accelerated adoption of Gen AI aimed at driving productivity.
The third edition of the Pearson Skills Outlook series: ‘Gen AI-proof jobs’ – shared exclusively with ET -- analyses the impact of Gen AI on more than 5,000 jobs in five countries – India, Australia, Brazil, the US, and the UK.
In India, Gen AI could be deployed to handle around 30% or more of the time spent on tasks involved in the working week of some white-collar roles. In comparison, in many cases, less than 1% of a blue-collar worker’s job in a working week could be done by GenAI, the report sayssays.
There is a difference of 29% between the task-level impact of the most impacted white- and blue-collar jobs in India. The five blue-collar jobs least impacted by Gen AI have no impacted tasks, while the least impacted white-collar jobs all have around 10% or more of their jobs impacted at a task level.
The variation in impact between white-collar and blue-collar roles can be related to the nature of tasks performed by each role, the report suggests. Many administrative roles contain repetitive tasks – such as scheduling appointments or answering and directing calls - that can be easily replicated by Gen AI.
In India, the most impacted white-collar jobs are (by % of time spent on tasks that can be automated or augmented by Gen AI): accounting and bookkeeping clerks (46%); word processor and related operators (40%); administrative secretaries and related associate professionals (38%); stall and market salespersons (30%) and accountants (28%).
The most impacted blue-collar jobs in India are weavers, knitters and related workers (17%); basketry weavers, brush makers and related workers (17%); weaving and knitting machine operators (16%), waiters and bartenders (15%) and bakers, pastry cooks and confectionery makers (15%).
“As employees look to the future, understanding which jobs are at risk from AI allows them to prepare. They should also consider where new roles might be created by GenAI,” said Mike Howells, president, Pearson Workforce Skills. “Workers and employers should look at how they can ride this wave of change by using the best of AI and the best of human skills together – whether that is using the technology to take over repetitive tasks, so people can focus on high-value activities, or enhancing those uniquely human skills like creativity, communication and leadership.”
For this Skills Outlook research report, Pearson used tools based on Gen AI to analyse the specific tasks related to more than 5,000 jobs and how much time is being spent on each task currently.
Calculations were done on how much of a job’s work, by time spent on individual tasks, would be affected by Gen AI. This gives the percentage of time saved due to Gen AI by 2032, per task – and, consequently, to ascertain which jobs will be most or least impacted.
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For more information, please contact: Bhavya Suri, PR & Corporate Affairs, Pearson India & MENA- bhavya.suri@pearson.com