AI, machine learning to drive Indian job market in 5 years, WEF says

In its latest Future of Jobs report, WEF says that globally 69 million new jobs are expected to be created in the next five years. The study also estimates that about 83 million will be eliminated by 2027.

“Almost a quarter of jobs (23 per cent) are expected to change in the next five years through growth of 10.2 per cent and decline of 12.3 per cent (globally),” the WEF said.

The survey covered 803 companies – collectively employing more than 11.3 million workers – in 27 industry clusters and 45 economies from all world regions.

About India, the report estimated that 61 per cent of companies think broader applications of ESG (environment, social and governance) standards will drive job growth, followed by increased adoption of new technologies (59 per cent) and broadening digital access (55 per cent).

Top roles for industry transformation in India would be AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning specialists, and data analysts and scientists, it added.

The report also found that manufacturing and oil and gas sectors have the highest level of green skill intensity globally, with India, the US and Finland featuring at the top of the list for the oil and gas sector.

Also, more populous economies such as India and China were more positive than the global average when compared with countries’ viewpoints on talent availability while hiring.

On the other hand, India figured among the seven countries where job growth was slower for social jobs than non-social jobs.

In India, 97 per cent of respondents said that the preferred source of funding for training was ‘funded by organisation’ as against the global average of 87 per cent.

The WEF said that macro trends, including the green transition, ESG standards and localisation of supply chains are the leading drivers of job growth globally, with economic challenges, including high inflation, slower economic growth and supply shortages, posing the greatest threat.

Advancing technology adoption and increasing digitisation will cause significant labour market churn, with an overall net positive in job creation, it added.

Also, while expectations of the displacement of physical and manual work by machines have decreased, reasoning, communicating and coordinating – all traits with a comparative advantage for humans – are expected to be more automatable in future.

Artificial intelligence, a key driver of potential algorithmic displacement, is expected to be adopted by nearly 75 per cent of surveyed companies and is expected to lead to high churn – with 50 per cent of organisations expecting it to create job growth and 25 per cent anticipating it to result in job losses.

However, the largest absolute gains in jobs will come from education and agriculture. As per the report, jobs in the education industry are expected to grow by about 10 per cent, leading to 3 million additional jobs for vocational education teachers and university and higher education teachers.

Jobs for agricultural professionals, especially agricultural equipment operators, graders and sorters, are expected to see a 15-30 per cent increase, leading to an additional 4 million jobs.

Globally, six in 10 workers will require training before 2027, but only half of the employees are seen to have access to adequate training opportunities today.

(With inputs from PTI)