{"id":388922,"date":"2026-04-09T00:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T00:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/388922\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T00:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T00:11:11","slug":"highly-educated-most-vulnerable-to-ai-job-losses-in-ireland-report-warns-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/388922\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Highly educated\u2019 most vulnerable to AI job losses in Ireland, report warns \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The artificial intelligence (AI)<\/a> revolution will have a severe effect on the Irish economy, with the most educated workers in top-paying jobs set to be hammered by the technology, a new report has warned. <\/p>\n

AI is set to impact up to 7 per cent of all jobs in the State in the short to medium term, according to a central scenario outlined in research from think tank ESRI <\/a>and the Department of Finance<\/a>. Many of those job losses will be at the top-end of the economy, it said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAI adoption among Irish firms is likely to lead to job losses, concentrated among highly educated workers, reflecting the strong exposure of high-skilled occupations to AI technologies,\u201d the ESRI said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The report, authored by Karina Doorley, Sorcha O\u2019Connor, Richard O\u2019Shea and Dora Tuda, is the clearest indication yet that AI is set change the Irish economy in profound ways. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe effect of AI on the labour market and the distribution of income is still highly uncertain,\u201d Doorley said. \u201cEnsuring a speedy digital transition will minimise the inequality effects.\u201d <\/p>\n

Boosting education levels and focusing on the services sector to drive employment has been a cornerstone of Government economic policy for decades. Yet those jobs are now under real threat from the rapidly improving technology. Entry-level roles in financial services and law \u2013 long the way into the workforce for thousands of college graduates<\/a> \u2013 are widely seen as among the jobs most at risk<\/a> from AI. <\/p>\n

A number of multinationals have already cited improved efficiency from AI when cutting staff around the world, while others, including Dublin-based management consulting giant Accenture<\/a>, has warned it will \u201cexit\u201d staff who cannot be retrained for using AI<\/a> in day-to-day business. <\/p>\n

Such changes would have a big impact on the State\u2019s finances. The tax<\/a> and welfare system \u201cabsorbs most of the income loss for lower income households\u201d, but if there are \u201csizeable\u201d job losses, then falling tax receipts and higher welfare spending would see \u201cpotentially large pressures on the public finances\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although average wages for those who remain in work \u201care likely to rise\u201d as a result of increasing productivity, that will not be enough to offset the overall jobs lost. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Accenture links top-level promotions to use of its AI toolsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find an average decline in household disposable income as a result of AI adoption,\u201d the authors write. \u201cThe largest average losses are experienced by middle and higher income households.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research makes clear that AI adoption will lead to worsening income inequality under every scenario it considers. Part of that will come from higher returns on investment, which would be largely concentrated among people who are already wealthy.<\/p>\n

The possibility of increased pressure on State coffers would strengthen the case for widening Ireland\u2019s tax base, the report\u2019s authors note, especially if the AI-induced changes lead to a near-permanent reduction in income tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadening the tax base and strengthening taxation of wealth and capital may become necessary to ensure the long-term stability of public services and welfare supports,\u201d the report notes. <\/p>\n

The authors urge the Government to focus on training and upskilling to help reduce the number of potential job losses, citing the country\u2019s strength in third-level education. That may make it easier to add AI-complimentary skills to university and post-Leaving Cert courses, they write.<\/p>\n

Despite the fears over AI, the report also points to expectations that the technology will create \u201cnew occupations and employment opportunities, providing further avenues for transition\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution will have a severe effect on the Irish economy, with the most educated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388923,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22534,218,1398,25744,61,60,43,5066],"class_list":{"0":"post-388922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-accenture","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-department-of-finance","11":"tag-esri","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-tax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}