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AI Taking Your Jobs: What No One is Telling You

Author

ADITYA SINGH
May 14, 2024

Hey Moneymint fans!

Welcome to all 958 new members who've joined us this week! Thank you for being a part of Moneymint.

What do you think about AI?

Do you think it can take your jobs?

If you think that’s not going to happen because of these “News report”, then think again.

Source: The Economic Times

Today, I will show you why I think AI is going to take your jobs (in the near future) and how you can avoid it.

The AI Job Takeover: What No One is Telling You!

Twenty years ago, my grandfather's factory job was replaced by robots. Today, the same thing is happening on a much larger scale and much faster.

I know you’ll not believe that this is happening as you’re not seeing any such thing around you.

The problem, its already happening only we are not aware of “Job loss due to AI”.

And today, I am going to show you the facts and data behind supporting the above statement.

Part 1: The beginning of the Job loss

TCS, Infosys, and Wipro see 67,000 employees leaving in FY24 due to low demand

Source: Indiatoday

In 2024, top Indian IT companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro made a major decision due to market instability and a lack of operational efficiency:

Job Cuts

The main reason for these cuts was the decrease in global demand and reduced tech spending. That's what these big companies want us to believe, but the actual reason is that we are being replaced by Artificial Intelligence.

Wipro’s employee count dropped from 258,570 in 2023 to 234,054 in 2024, a decrease of over 24,000.

Infosys’s total headcount went from 343,234 in 2023 to 317,240 in 2024, a drop of more than 25,000.

TCS reduced its workforce by 13,249 employees, marking the first such reduction in 19 years.

Startups are also feeling the heat. Companies like Byju’s, OLA, Unacademy, Vedantu, JioMart, and Swiggy have all seen mass layoffs.

But why is this happening?

The main reasons behind this is low demand and job replacements due to AI.

Hiring freezes by IT companies is the final nail in the coffin. For instance, Infosys will not hire students from colleges this year.

A report indicates that the Indian IT sector hired 32% fewer engineering graduates in FY23-24.

And the most shocking data of all: Only 1 in 10 engineering students graduating this year are likely to get a job.

Many students are accepting jobs with minimum salaries but are still searching for better opportunities.

"The scenario now is that many students are taking up jobs offering the bare minimum threshold salary of Rs 6 lakh a year but are looking for other jobs," a source said.

Part 2: This Can’t Be Due to AI Alone

It's tempting to blame job losses solely on low demand, but AI is playing a massive role.

Whatever we do, AI can do better than us without taking a break. Humans are still needed for critical thinking, but that's just one human monitoring 50-100 AI employees.

1. AI Will Lead To 70% Employees Getting Laid Off In India's IT Sector, Warns Former HCL CEO

Former HCL CEO Vineet Nayar warned that AI could lead to 70% of employees being laid off in India's IT sector.

"The skills of employees for coding, testing, maintenance, responding to trouble tickets, all that will be taken over by AI as these skills will become obsolete," Nayar predicts.

2. Statement of IMF: 40% of jobs could be impacted by artificial intelligence

The IMF report clearly states that over 40% of jobs globally could be affected by AI, with 26% of these impacts in India.

3. BPO employees face maximum risk of getting replaced by AI pretty quickly: Nasscom chairman

NASSCOM chairman Rajesh Nambiar mentioned that BPO employees are at high risk of being replaced by AI. The BPO sector, valued at around $48.9 billion, could see significant impacts due to AI.

4. AI could impact over half of Indian jobs: LinkedIn Top Exec

A LinkedIn executive suggested that AI could affect over half of Indian jobs. In the UK, AI could put 8 million workers at risk, according to a report.

5. AI could trigger 'jobs apocalypse' in UK, 80 lakh workers at risk

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) issued a warning that under current government policies, up to 8 million or 80 lakh workers in the UK are vulnerable to job loss due to artificial intelligence (AI).

AI impacts 11% of UK workers' tasks, could rise to 60% with deeper integration. UK trails behind India, US, others in AI skills, says Linkedin research.

Then there’s a debate on whether the decline in employee headcount in Indian IT firms is due to overhiring or the impact of AI.

While not all job losses are due to AI, it is believed that in the next five years, 90% of job losses will be because of AI.

Even India's IT minister, who once dismissed AI-related job losses as “nonsense,” now admits that routine jobs will be automated by AI.

Are you ready to compete with AI?

To prove my point, let's discuss an interesting case study of Dukaan CEO Suumit Shah.

Dukaan’s CEO Suumit Shah announced that the company would replace its entire customer support staff with an AI chatbot named Lina. This decision aimed at providing quick and accurate responses to customer queries, although it faced significant backlash.

Again, same story of Paytm where it laid off over 1,000 employees to implement AI-powered automation for repetitive tasks, aiming to improve efficiency.

And I have saved the most shocking news for the last: Google also announced plans to let go of 30,000 employees due to new AI innovations that improve operational efficiency and reduce the need for human input.

According to the report, many of the jobs in the ad sales unit are being made redundant because Google has introduced new AI-based tools that can automatically suggest and create new ads that perform well for customers and require little attention from employees.

And that’s my point: slowly, AI will take over. It is capable of working 24/7, is more productive than a human, more accurate than a human, and will also cost less than a full-time employee. So why wouldn't companies use AI instead of us?

Will AI become the employee of the year in 2024, where employees are being replaced or fired?

The Future: AI will take away jobs of outsourced coders in India in next 2 years: Stability AI CEO

Former CEO of Stability AI, Emad Mostaque, predicted that AI would replace many Indian outsourced programmers' jobs within the next two years.

The big question remains: what will happen to the large number of workers and fresh engineering graduates if this trend continues?

Part 3: What Will Happen to So Many Engineering Graduates in India?

The big question remains: what will happen to the large number of workers and fresh engineering graduates if this trend continues?

Jobless or unemployed: The sad truth is, after working hard for four years, not getting a job feels really bad. But who should we blame? We can blame companies, the government, or AI. But will blaming them fix the situation? No.

In this section, I will talk about how you can develop your skills to become job-ready. If AI is taking jobs, it is also creating new ones.

You can complete many AI courses online:

If you don't want to opt for a full-time course then you go for certification in Artificial Intelligence:

One of the best guides on Online Artificial Intelligence Courses & Certifications by Careers360.

Part 4: Creating a Community

I often see countless "Searching for a job" posts on LinkedIn. But do you think employers or HR managers have the time to sift through all those messages? The reality is, while a few of us might secure jobs this way, the majority do not.

So, how can we stay ahead of the curve? The answer lies in building a dedicated community.

Why a Community?

A community allows us to learn from and support each other. By pooling our resources and knowledge, we can create a powerful network that benefits everyone involved.

For example, imagine if job seekers filled out a centralized Google Spreadsheet with their details, then HR managers and employers could easily review candidates in one go, streamlining the hiring process and saving valuable time. This is the power of coming together in one place.

Action Step:

Make sure to share this Google Spreadsheet with your friends and family members. By contributing their details, they can increase their chances of getting hired.

A dedicated community isn't just about job hunting; it's about building a support system where we can grow and succeed together. Let's harness this power and help each other thrive in the age of AI.

Conclusion

The AI revolution is moving at a lightning-fast pace, and it waits for no one. We're facing an express train, not a slow-moving cart.

In the past, it could take 40 years for a job to become obsolete and eventually disappear. During this time, most employees would retire naturally or have ample time to switch careers.

Now, with accelerated technological advancements, most companies in wealthy countries, and many in middle-income countries, are likely to fully adopt AI tools within 10 years. Although this may seem slow considering AI's potential for huge productivity gains, the complete rollout will take a decade because we need to develop many domain-specific AI applications to make AI truly useful across various industries.

So, while AI might be gunning for your job, it also opens the door for you to upgrade your role. Adapt, learn, and embrace the change—after all, you wouldn't want to be outsmarted by a glorified calculator, would you?

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