Sometimes a number makes you gasp. No, it’s not fuel prices, although they are shocking too. It’s 900,000: that’s the number of jobs likely to be lost to artificial intelligence (AI), according to figures from the Central Bank of Ireland.
A paper published by the bank last month found that between 13 per cent and 31 per cent of all those employed – standing at 2.8 million at the end of 2025 – are likely to lose their jobs due to the new technology.
If this prediction comes to pass, a large percentage of our working population will be unemployed, with the report stating that younger workers and women will be more at risk.
Customer service workers, clerical support workers and sales assistants are at the highest risk of replacement, while those in science, engineering, law, information and communications technology will be largely unscathed.
The Central Bank urged the Government to develop policies focused on targeted reskilling, upskilling and investment in lifelong learning for impacted groups.
So if you’re a young person reaching for the next rung in the career ladder, what does this startling number mean for you?
Giselle Goodwin, an expert in work and wellbeing, says the traditional “start at the bottom” model is quietly breaking down.
“The bottom rung: the admin, the summaries, the basic research, the endless ‘can you just…’ tasks are exactly what AI tools are taking over. Not perfectly, but fast, cheap and good enough,” she says.
This leaves us in a slightly awkward position. “We still expect young people to have experience, but we are steadily removing the roles that allowed them to gain it.”
Human resources consultant Andrea Dermody says that, despite the hype and fear around AI, nobody really knows what’s going to happen with the technology and this can cause paralysis.
“Most organisations haven’t yet quite figured out how AI is going to impact their work over the next couple of years. As much as people of this generation are confused about what the future’s going to hold, their organisations haven’t figured it out yet either.”
Many of the job losses we’re seeing at the moment may just be an opportunistic way for companies to cut costs and not directly related to AI adoption. Philip Lane, chief economist at the European Central Bank, said in March that there was little evidence of AI-related job losses in the euro zone so far.
Either way, what should you do to make sure you’re strategising and preparing your next move?
Get curious, stay human
If AI threatens your job, you should try to move quickly from panic to curiosity and strategic thinking. We tend to focus on jobs and job roles but AI tends to replace tasks within a profession and not the whole job.
Dermody says that if she were at this stage in her career she would be embracing two things: AI/digital adoption and human skills. Use this as an opportunity to get curious and learn as much as possible, she says.
“If you’re lucky enough to be in a job, talk to more senior people. Talk to the people who are involved and responsible for the AI projects. Absorb what’s happening in your industry and come to your own conclusions,” she says.
Once you’ve built that expertise and confidence, raise your hand for every opportunity to get engaged in AI and how it is being shaped in your organisation.
When you talk to people in the later stages of their career you find they’ve typically been promoted because of technical expertise. As managers though, they need to rely on soft skills and then they’re suddenly lost, she said.
“They’re not good communicators or they’re not good at building relationships. And historically, it’s at that stage of the career that gap becomes most visible. Now we’re seeing a shift as you need to develop those human skills much earlier in your career,” says Dermody.
“So, build your network, think about your visibility and have mentors and sponsors in the organisation who help build those relationships. Think about your personal brand. It’s never enough to do a good job. You need to be sharing what you’re thinking and what you’re learning.”
Parents of humanities graduates may soon rejoice too. “We’re going to see the emergence of an increased valuation of the humanities-type education where you learn critical evaluation and have really good research skills.
“Anyone, for example, who is in debate club at school and understands how to interrogate both sides of an argument is going to find that they have value to add in this new world.”
Create your own path
Although it’s difficult to know where things will be in three years’ time you need to envisage your future state of work.
“What kind of things do I want to be doing? What do I want my day to look like? Do I want to be educating others or do I want to be building relationships?” says Dermody.
Everything you do – from networking, increasing your visibility, choice of mentor to the type of projects you put your hand up for – should all be framed in that desired visionary state.
Goodwin, who is also a serial entrepreneur, says young people today need to think less about following a prescribed path and more about creating their own. “That inevitably sounds like a call to entrepreneurship, which many people still assume is reserved for the bold, the brash and the naturally confident. It isn’t.
“Enterprise is just as much about curiosity, creativity and a willingness to try things that might not work. The trade-off is that you don’t get to coast. Lifelong learning becomes non-negotiable, and so does building relationships.
“In a world that is increasingly online and automated, the most valuable skills are becoming very human ones: judgment, communication and the ability to work with and understand other people.”
A generational shift is already happening in how young people network.
“A friend of mine, a successful entrepreneur, is encouraging his children to get on to LinkedIn early, not for vanity but for visibility. To start thinking about how they present themselves, what they are interested in and who they are connecting with. The idea that you write a CV at 21 and hope for the best is being replaced by something much more continuous and much more public.”
Instead of fearing the changes that AI brings, embrace the opportunity to reshape the old models. If AI is going to disrupt work, it also gives us permission to rethink it. The nine-to-five model was designed for an industrial economy that no longer exists.
“We now have the chance to design work around outcomes rather than hours, and to build roles that offer more autonomy and, ultimately, better wellbeing. The evidence is already clear that people do better work when they have more control over how they do it,” says Goodwin.
Her advice to her own teenage children and to others their age is relatively simple. “Get clear on what you are good at and keep getting better at it. Use AI as a tool to accelerate your thinking, not replace it. And don’t assume someone will offer you the first rung of the ladder. Increasingly, you may have to build it yourself.”
Margaret E Ward is chief executive of Clear Eye, a leadership consultancy. margaret@cleareye.ie