UK government seeks company data on AI workforce impact

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UK government AI workforce impact

Highlights

UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology requests aggregated company data on AI’s workforce impact to inform policy and improve understanding of productivity and employment effects.
Sage, a FTSE 100 payroll software group, has agreed to participate in the voluntary AI adoption insights agreement, though business concern persists that the process could become more stringent.
BT plans to cut 55,000 jobs by 2030 with 10,000 directly replaced by AI, Accenture to cut 11,000 jobs in 2025, and Standard Chartered to shed almost 8,000 jobs due to efficiency gains from AI.

Government data push before AI summit

As first reported by the Financial Times, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is asking companies to provide aggregated information on how AI affects workers, job roles, skills and job quality. In messages to businesses, government aides say data on what is changing inside firms will help shape policy by improving Whitehall's understanding of AI's effects on productivity, employment and business performance.

It remains unclear how many businesses have joined the so-called AI adoption insights agreement. Sage, the FTSE 100 software group that provides payroll services to thousands of small businesses, says it will share data with the government, according to a person close to the company.

Ministers say the AI Economics Institute, a government research body, will help Britain become the first country to design future policy using evidence and insight on the economics of AI. The government also says participation is voluntary, although some businesses worry the current light-touch approach could later become more demanding.

Labour market concerns and business response

Officials are making the request as fears grow that AI could worsen youth unemployment if employers automate more entry-level roles. Nearly 1 million young people are not in work, education or training, while IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva says earlier this year that AI will hit labour markets like a tsunami, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan warns of a new era of mass unemployment.

Other ministers are taking a more optimistic view. Business Secretary Peter Kyle argues that AI will also create high-paid jobs, and the government says the institute will draw on leading expertise to monitor AI's impact on productivity and labour markets as part of a broader push to deploy the technology in a way that supports growth and opportunity.

Several large employers have already linked workforce changes to AI. BT says in 2023 that it plans to cut 55,000 jobs by 2030, including 10,000 directly replaced by AI; Accenture cuts 11,000 jobs in 2025 as part of an AI reskilling drive; and Standard Chartered, headquartered in the UK, attributes its move last month to cut almost 8,000 jobs to efficiency gains from AI.

Our earlier report on the UK government’s backing for Comcast’s planned Universal theme park in Bedford detailed a £1.3bn public commitment to transport and infrastructure links to support the project. We noted expectations for large-scale job creation—around 20,000 roles during construction and about 8,000 once operational—alongside the government’s broader aim of using major investments to drive regional growth.

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