The increasing use of artificial intelligence is profoundly affecting the workforce. According to a recent report women working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to AI and automation than their male peers.
The report by the City of London Corporation demonstrated that the mid-career women with at least five years’ experience are being overlooked for digital roles in the tech and financial sectors.
The governing body found that female applicants were discriminated against by rigid, and sometimes automated, screening of their CVs, which failed to account for career gaps related to caring for children and relatives.
It has been observed recently that the corporation is urging employers to specifically focus on re-skilling female workers who are not currently in technical roles.
Conversely, those in clerical positions are at the greatest risk of being displaced by automation.
In line with recent estimates, about 119,000 clerical roles in tech and the financial and professional service sectors-principally carried out by women will be displaced by automation over the next decade. Reskilling the individuals affected by these job losses could save companies from making severance payments totalling as much as £757m.
In this regard, Dame Susan Langley, the mayor of the City of London said, “By investing in people and supporting the development of digital skills within the workforce, employers can unlock enormous potential and build stronger and resilient teams.” A poll conducted by the international recruitment company Randstad illustrated the results that a quarter of UK workers are worried about their jobs disappearing in the next five years because of AI.
Meanwhile, companies have been working to address worker shortages by elevating wages above the national average, but a report found that higher pay rates will not solve the problem. This situation will heighten tensions by widening a digital talent gap forecast to persist until 2035. In this scenario, the UK could miss out on more than £10bn of economic growth.