Artificial intelligence will lead to many companies employing fewer people in the next five years, reports Reuters, citing a survey by the Adecco Group. The survey found that 41% of the 2,000 managers surveyed expect that they will employ fewer employees in the next five years due to technology. At the same time, competition for personnel with AI skills will intensify and their salaries are likely to rise significantly.

“Almost all jobs are going to be impacted by AI one way or another," Adecco CEO Denis Machuel told Reuters. "AI can be a job killer and it can also be a job creator. Ten years ago there was this big fear many jobs are going to be destroyed by digital, when actually lots of jobs have been created by the digital world. Between jobs created by AI and jobs destroyed, we believe this is going to be balanced." Machuel added that companies needed to prepare for the disruption by training their staff to work with AI, rather than relying on recruiting specialists from outside.

The staffing giant, which uses AI itself, for example in helping create resumes for clients, also sees the technology offering "massive opportunity" in its work with customers. "We already engaged in training and up-skilling people on behalf of our clients," Machuel said. "We've sold a lot of consulting projects and the ramp-up that we see on that is quite interesting."