Employees in India are more wary of losing their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI) than their counterparts in the US, UK and Germany, according to a Randstad pulse survey shared with the Economic Times. At least one in two Indian employees are worried about losing their jobs to AI compared to one in three in developed countries. Among the reasons for the increased concern among Indian employees is the presence of a large workforce in BPOs (business process outsourcing) and KPOs (knowledge process outsourcing), which are particularly vulnerable to AI automation, and high rate of AI adoption in the country, said Viswanath P, managing director and CEO of Randstad India.

"There are a lot of KPOs and BPOs in India where employees work on several operational tasks that AI can potentially take over. We must also consider that AI adoption in India is among the fastest in the world," said Viswanath. "These employees must be thinking about future-proofing their careers through continuous learning, as they prepare for potentially unexpected AI interventions.”

The survey covered 1,606 respondents across India, out of which 55% were male and 45% female. Seven in 10 respondents believed AI will impact their industry and roles. A similar number of respondents recognised the relevance of upskilling as they believe that ups- killing of tech skills will be essential in their roles over the next five years. The survey also found that the majority are already using AI in their current jobs, and only 6% have not received any AI training in the last 12 months. AI remains the most sought-after areas of development (according to 30% respondents), followed by IT and technological literacy (28%); management and leadership skills (27%).