Entry-Level Jobs First at Risk From AI, Australia Tells Employers to Prepare

Australia's workplace relations minister Amanda Rishworth has launched a best practice guide on adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. The guide came after job cuts at Qantas and Canva.

The government has warned employers that entry-level jobs will be the first to be automated. But it could mean fewer hours and higher wages for ordinary workers, or make jobs tougher with more burnout and workplace surveillance.

Big companies like Qantas and Canva are slashing their workforces in restructures spurred by AI changes. Rishworth said employers must give workers a clear plan about how automation could affect their jobs, and the opportunity to move into new roles.

The guide cautioned that younger, older and First Nations workers, along with women and people with a disability, faced disproportionate impacts. Former industry minister Ed Husic, at a parliamentary hearing examining the big four banks, questioned who receives the benefits of higher productivity — better services and lower prices for customers, secure jobs with higher wages for workers, or just lower labour costs and higher returns.

The guide also paints an optimistic picture of AI, saying wider takeup could improve productivity, service quality and profitability for businesses, as well as boost wages, offer shorter and more flexible working hours, or provide more meaningful work for employees. But deeper within the document it concedes potential hazards, including intrusive worker surveillance, poor rostering practices, intensified or unrealistic performance standards and potential discrimination. If basic tasks are automated, humans will be left with more intense and complex tasks, and some employers could use greater monitoring capabilities for performance management.

In a speech to a business forum in Sydney, Rishworth said some firms had used AI to automate tedious tasks to save time and money, but warned that firms simply adding AI without properly consulting workers could actually increase workloads, as humans have to navigate an added step. She said many workers had told her they are willing to adopt AI where they can see it will improve their working life, but that willingness cannot be taken for granted. Without answers to whether they will receive support and opportunities to build new skills, whether their knowledge and expertise will still be valued, and whether they will share in the benefits being created, workers will naturally lose trust in the process.

Greens leader David Shoebridge accused the government of watching from the sidelines while big companies slashed their workforce, demanding protections against surveillance and job cuts. He said that asking employers nicely to consult staff really means a worker who loses their job to an algorithm will have no legal recourse at all. Noting that Qantas, Canva, NAB and ANZ have all been firing Australian workers, he said the time for optional guidelines has passed and that sharing the benefits of AI through better pay and shorter hours should be written into law instead of left to the goodwill of employers.

The Reserve Bank this week reported it had seen little evidence to date of AI disrupting Australia's labour market, but said the size and type of future impacts were highly uncertain. The bank, which last week warned the buildout of data centres and AI investment was fuelling inflation, said it saw tentative signs of impacts on certain roles, like clerks, computer programmers and call centre workers.

Qantas this week announced 850 job cuts which would target finance, human resources and marketing roles. National Australian Bank announced 2,500 job losses and Canva announced 1,200 layoffs. All have been linked partly to the growth in AI. Rishworth's guide says little about potential redundancies linked to AI, but warns employers they should be consulting workers about the takeup of AI and what it might mean for their jobs, especially raising concern about entry-level work, which may be the first to be automated.