Moving toward an AI push, TikTok is laying off hundreds of employees globally, with a significant portion of the cuts impacting its workforce in Malaysia.
The company owned by China’s ByteDance stated on Friday that the layoffs come as part of the companies strategy to increase its reliance on AI for content moderation
Although initial reports indicated over 700 job losses in Malaysia, TikTok later clarified that fewer than 500 employees were affected.
The majority of those laid off worked in content moderation and were notified via email on Wednesday. Globally, several hundred employees are expected to be impacted as part of TikTok’s broader strategy to streamline moderation operations.
TikTok currently uses a combination of automated systems and human moderators to monitor content, but the shift towards AI is seen as part of its efforts to improve efficiency.
ByteDance, which employs over 110,000 people across 200 cities globally, also hinted at further retrenchments next month as part of regional consolidation efforts. A TikTok spokesperson noted that these changes are part of a plan to strengthen the company’s global content moderation model and emphasized its commitment to investing $2 billion in trust and safety initiatives this year.
According to the spokesperson, 80% of content flagged for violating guidelines is now removed using automated technologies.
Expected vs. Actual Impact of AI on Global Employment
The influence of AI on the job market has become an undeniable reality and as we go further with the analyses we focus on the current situation and the future of AI’s impact on human employment.
To put it in perspective, did you know that 30% of workers worldwide fear that AI might replace their jobs within the next three years and in India, a staggering 74% of the workforce shares these concerns?
These concerns reflect the broader uncertainty about AI’s potential to disrupt industries and displace workers.
The projections are staggering- by 2030, AI could replace approximately 800 million jobs globally.
On the other hand, economically, AI is expected to have a significant impact, with estimates suggesting it could contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by the same year. This transformation will likely necessitate large-scale retraining, with over 120 million workers expected to require new skills within the next three years.
In the U.S. alone, about 45 million jobs could be automated by 2030, indicating the far-reaching consequences of AI adoption. As industries evolve, understanding both the potential benefits and challenges of AI will be critical for workers and businesses alike.
So Where Do We Actually Stand?
Despite the high expectations surrounding AI, the current reality shows a more restrained impact on employment. So far, 14% of workers have experienced job displacement due to AI, indicating that while AI’s potential is substantial, its full effect on job replacement has yet to materialize.
Most businesses, however, believe that within the next 50 years, computers will increasingly replace human tasks, signaling that we are only at the beginning of this transformation.
Moreover, AI’s influence stretches beyond employment figures. It poses challenges to pandemic recovery efforts, with AI potentially hindering the restoration of 42% of the jobs lost during the COVID-19 crisis adding complexity to its role in shaping the post-pandemic workforce.
What Is the Current Impact Of AI
IBM reports that 77% of businesses are either actively integrating AI into their operations or exploring its implementation. This widespread adoption suggests that AI is becoming a core part of modern business strategies.
Hence, concerns about AI-driven job displacement are not unwarranted.
A significant 35% of businesses have already incorporated AI, with another 42% currently exploring its potential. While this doesn’t translate into immediate job losses, the risk of workforce displacement is likely to grow as AI systems become more advanced and require less human involvement.
Moreover, larger enterprises are twice as likely to embrace AI compared to smaller companies, according to IBM data. This disparity is largely due to the financial resources that larger organizations can dedicate to research and development, allowing them to adopt emerging technologies more easily. Nevertheless, 41% of small businesses are also developing AI strategies for future use.
Not surprisingly, IT professionals are leading AI integration in the workplace, with 54% of them using AI in their daily tasks. Their expertise positions them at the forefront of this technological shift.
AI adoption is not limited to IT roles.
Data engineers have a 35% adoption rate, while developers and data scientists follow closely at 29%. Other roles benefiting from AI include security professionals (26%) and customer service staff (25%).
According to Statista’s data, marketing and advertising industries are leading the charge in AI adoption, with 37% of businesses in these sectors using Generative AI. This reflects the diverse ways industries are leveraging AI to enhance their operations and drive innovation.
The AI adoption trend is evident across various industries. The technology sector follows closely with a 35% adoption rate, while consulting stands at 30%. Teaching, accounting, and healthcare also show notable uptake, with 19%, 16%, and 15% respectively. These figures show the widespread and varied applications of AI across different professional domains.
Positive Perception of AI
But not all have a pessimistic view of AI.
A striking 81% of office workers hold a positive view of AI, according to SnapLogic. These employees believe that AI enhances their job performance and improves their overall work experience.
Among 400 surveyed office workers, 61% reported that AI helps boost their efficiency and productivity. Additionally, 49% credited AI with enhancing their decision-making capabilities, illustrating AI’s role in optimizing work processes.
Interestingly, 51% of respondents believe that AI allows them to achieve a better work-life balance, showcasing its broader impact beyond just task automation and efficiency in the workplace.
The Reality of Job Displacement
While AI adoption brings several benefits, job displacement remains a concern.
Recent data from Socius reveals that 14% of workers have already been displaced due to automation or AI. Interestingly, 47% of those affected suspected job loss compared to 29% of those who hadn’t yet experienced it, indicate a gap between perception and reality.
Now to the real question, what is AI’s contribution to job losses
In May 2023, 3,900 job losses in the U.S. were directly attributed to AI, accounting for 5% of all job losses that month, making AI the seventh-largest contributor to job displacement. The tech sector has been particularly affected, with 136,831 job losses so far this year, marking the most significant wave of layoffs since 2001.
British Telecom (BT) has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs over the next seven years, largely through the implementation of AI and other automation strategies. This move is driven by the company’s increasing use of AI-powered customer service technologies, such as chatbots, as it seeks to streamline operations and reduce labor costs.
Reports from sources like Business Insider and Forbes state that AI and automation have drastically affected wages, leading to reductions as high as 70% since 1980. AI often levels the playing field before replacing jobs, enabling individuals with varying skill levels to use AI tools to enhance their work quality, which has contributed to wage compression in many industries.
A Historical Perspective
Since 1980, this trend has significantly impacted blue-collar workers, who have seen wage decreases between 50% and 70%. Those affected were often replaced or saw their roles diminished by early automation and basic AI technologies, accentuating the long-term effects on manual labor sectors.
Today, the focus of AI-driven job disruption has shifted to educated, white-collar workers, particularly those earning up to $80,000 annually. The automation of tasks involving programming, writing, and other cognitive skills, as seen in technologies like ChatGPT, is beginning to reshape professions traditionally shielded from automation.
Perceptions of Job Replacement
A comprehensive survey conducted by PwC across 44 countries, involving 52,000 participants, reveals that nearly 30% of workers are concerned about losing their jobs to technological advancements like AI within the next three years.
The same study shows that 39% of respondents feel their employers are not providing adequate training in emerging digital and technology skills. This highlights the growing need for upskilling and reskilling efforts to help workers adapt to the evolving technological landscape.
AI Job Fears in India
Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index paints a sharp picture in India, where 74% of workers are deeply concerned about AI’s potential to replace their jobs. However, despite these fears, 83% of Indian employees are willing to offload as much work as possible to AI in order to reduce their workloads, reflecting a complex relationship between fear and acceptance of AI in the workplace.
Research from BMG indicates a clear generational divide in concerns over AI job displacement. A significant 52% of workers aged 18 to 24 express anxiety about AI’s impact on their future careers, whereas older workers, nearing retirement, may not feel the full force of AI disruption.
In the digital marketing sector, where AI adoption is widespread, concerns about job displacement are particularly high. An overwhelming 81.6% of digital marketers fear that content writers may lose their jobs to AI-driven tools, such as chatbots that can generate acceptable content from simple prompts. This shift highlights the increasing competition between human and AI-generated content in creative industries.
Snapshot
AI’s influence on the global workforce is both transformative and multifaceted and while it holds the potential to boost productivity, efficiency, and even improve work-life balance, it also raises legitimate concerns about job displacement, wage suppression, and the adequacy of current skill sets.
As the data shows, AI has already made significant inroads across various sectors, from blue-collar jobs to white-collar professions, and is poised to reshape industries at a rapid pace.
However, the impact of AI on jobs remains uneven.
While some workers have already felt its effects, many roles are still in transition.
The promise of AI lies in its ability to enhance human capabilities rather than completely replace them, but this requires proactive efforts from businesses and governments to prioritize upskilling and reskilling initiatives. Without such measures, the fear of widespread job losses, as seen in places like India and among younger generations, could overshadow the potential benefits of AI.
Thus, the future of AI in the workplace depends on how well we prepare for it, perhaps a balance is needed between embracing technological innovation and addressing the human cost.
