One-third of new entry-level job openings in Britain have been slashed since the introduction of OpenAI’s large language model, ChatGPT, according to figures from a leading job search site.
The impact of artificial intelligence may be already having a significant impact on the British workforce, with firms turning to generative programmes such as ChatGPT to cut down on their hiring practices.
Figures released this week by job search engine Adzuna have found that job openings for entry-level positions have fallen by 32 per cent in the UK since ChatGPT was launched in November of 2022, The Guardian newspaper reported.
According to their data, apprenticeships, internships, junior jobs with no degree requirement, and graduate jobs now account for 25 per cent of the overall job market in the UK, compared to 28.9 per cent in 2022.
The findings follow similarly stark warnings for young people who are seeking to enter the workforce, with fellow job search site Indeed saying last week that university students are facing the tightest job market since 2018 and that job openings for recent graduates have fallen by a third over the last year.
The head of data science at Adzuna, James Neave, said that the proliferation of AI was playing a significant role in firms forgoing hiring at entry-level positions.
“If you can reduce your hiring at the entry level, that’s just going to increase your efficiency and improve cost savings,” he said per the Times of London.
Specific sectors have been more impacted by this, with retail seeing a 78.2 per cent decrease in entry-level job openings over the past three years. Meanwhile, IT job vacancies have declined by 54.8 per cent, and accounting and finance openings fell by 50.8 per cent.
Neave also noted that the turn to AI and the hesitancy to hire new employees have been exacerbated by the generally poor state of the British economy, which has still not fully recovered from the Chinese coronavirus and the draconian lockdowns imposed in response.
Rather than fulfilling their pledge to focus on a return to economic growth, the left-wing Labour Party of Sir Keir Starmer, which came to power last year, has instead decided to double down on the high-tax and spend agenda of the neoliberal Conservative governments that preceded it.
One such hindrance to businesses has been the left-wing government’s policies of increasing national insurance (NIC) contributions for businesses and upping the national minimum wage, which have incentivised further automation.
Neave said that “the NIC contributions were just a pure financial burden,” but warned that the impending Employment Rights Bill was “upping the ante for employers even more than it has been”.
“If you’re an employer, it all adds to this list of reasons why you shouldn’t hire people,” he said.
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