Is artificial intelligence taking away jobs? This is a question many people are asking as AI tools become more common at work. According to LinkedIn’s data, AI may not be the reason hiring has slowed down. Blake Lawit, the chief global affairs and legal officer at LinkedIn, recently spoke at the Semafor World Economy summit. He said the company’s internal data shows that hiring has dropped by around 20 per cent since 2022. However, he made it clear that AI does not appear to be the main cause.
‘At LinkedIn… we have an economic graph which is over a billion members. We’ve got companies, jobs, skills. It’s really an amazing real-time view of what’s happening in the labor market. And we’ve looked — because everyone wants to know the answer to this question: Is AI impacting jobs right now? We’ve looked and, honestly, we haven’t seen it,’ he said.
Instead of AI, Lawit suggested that higher interest rates are likely the bigger reason behind the slowdown in hiring, reports TechCrunch.
‘We have not seen the sort of impacts that you would expect to see in areas that everyone is talking about AI… like industries, whether or not it’s customer support, or administrative, or marketing- all these places that if we were seeing impacts (from) AI that’s where it would be,’ Lawit continued. He added, ‘Yes, hiring’s down, but not down more.’
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Lawit also pointed out that young college graduates looking for their first jobs are not seeing a sharper decline compared to mid-career or senior professionals.
Note that he did not rule out the possibility of a change in the future. ‘Doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen in the future, but not yet,’ he said.
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Also, Lawit noted that in recent years, the skills needed for the average job have changed by 25 per cent. With AI growing fast, LinkedIn expects that number to reach 70 per cent by 2030. ‘So, even if you’re not changing jobs, your job’s changing on you,’ he said.
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