Young workers most worried about AI affecting jobs, Randstad survey shows

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Four in five workers believe artificial intelligence is going to impact their daily tasks at the workplace, with Gen Z among those most concerned as companies increasingly rely on AI chatbots and automation, a survey conducted by Randstad ?showed on Tuesday.

Job vacancies requiring "AI agent" skills have surged by 1,587%, Randstad said in its yearly "Workmonitor" ?report, with survey data suggesting that AI and automation are increasingly replacing ?low-complexity, transactional roles.

Randstad, one of the world's largest ?recruitment agencies, surveyed 27,000 ?workers and 1,225 employers and covered more than 3 million job postings across 35 markets ?for the report.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Labour markets are ?under immense pressure as corporations around the globe ramp up job cuts as consumer sentiment dims, shaken by U.S. President ?Donald Trump's trade war and ?aggressive foreign policy ?moves that have taken a wrecking ball to the rule-based world order. AI-focused tech firms have started to replace jobs with automation, even ?as most companies still await tangible returns from an exceptional investment boom into AI that will shape the business world for years to come.

KEY QUOTES

"What we generally see amongst employees is that they are enthusiastic about AI ... but they may also be sceptical in the sense ?that ?companies want what companies always want: they want to save costs and increase efficiency," Randstad CEO Sander van 't Noordende told ?Reuters.

"Gen Z is the most concerned generation, while Baby Boomers show greater self-assurance and are the least worried about AI's impact and their ability to adapt," the report said.

BY THE NUMBERS

Nearly half of the workers interviewed fear the nascent technology stands to benefit corporations more than the workforce, the data showed.

There is also ?a discrepancy with how employers and workers view business performance. Around 95% of surveyed employers forecast growth for this year, while only 51% of employees shared this optimism, according to ?the report. (Reporting by Jakob Van Calster in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)