AI largely takes over labour market: ‘Universities need to adapt’
Only a third of work will still be done without AI and robotisation, according to research by the World Economic Forum that was published Wednesday. What role is the university playing in this changing labour market? “Within curricula, more attention will have to be paid to AI.’
Only a third of jobs will still be performed solely by human hands in 2030, it is expected. Another third will be performed with the help of AI or robotisation, and the remainder will be completely taken over by technology. Those findings follow from the Future of Jobs Report 2025. A newly published research report by the World Economic Forum, which asked a thousand employers from around the world how their jobs will change in the next five years. Henk Volberda, professor of strategy and innovation at the UvA, collected the data from the Netherlands.
The main conclusion according to him: “This report shows that people in some sectors need to be prepared for the changing labour market, so they can retrain or upskill in time.”
Will university jobs disappear because of AI or robotisation?
“Yes, I do expect that. That will be particularly the more administrative and support functions. Or, for example, the editor in England who revisits articles by academics and checks for spelling. After all, you can now use ChatGPT for that. But it’s not like there will be a robot in front of the classroom in five years’ time, and not a teacher. We will, however, see mobile robots cleaning the corridors here in a few years. Something that need not be at the expense of the cleaners. Those robots will then relieve the cleaners of routine chores, allowing them to perform other tasks in a more focused way. Thus, we will see more and more collaboration with technology at the university.”
This study was produced by conducting a survey among a thousand employers. Do you think employees are also ready to implement these technological advances in their work?
“The report shows that highly skilled knowledge workers will not need additional training and education. Those will be able to make the switch, is the expectation. But a large proportion, will need retraining. And it looks like 11 per cent will not receive the necessary training and will lose their jobs as a result.”
“It is never fun when your job function is automated,” says Volberda. He points to the Industrial Revolution. Some workers then smashed the new mechanical looms, “because they perceived the mechanisation of their work as a threat. Sometimes that actually led to them losing their jobs.”
Even now, with the advance of robotisation and artificial intelligence, we need to be realistic and vigilant, Volberda believes. “Yes, technology can support people in their work and it provides many jobs, increasing employment by seven per cent. But robotisation in particular is the biggest displacer of jobs.”
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How can the university contribute to smoothing the transition to a labour market more focused on technology?
“Universities need to adapt to that. I think the UvA is pretty much at the forefront of this, focusing on themes such as digital transformation and sustainability, two macro trends that are going to have a big effect on the labour market. But this change will also have to be reflected in the curricula. You can see this happening at the UvA, by the way. At my faculty of Economics and Business Administration, for example, you see special bachelor and master programmes emerging around Big Data and AI. But you also see more attention to technology within existing programmes. Within the master’s in Digital business, for instance, we have greatly expanded the share that deals with AI. This is coming from employers, but students are also pushing for it.”
Besides students, can the university offer support to people who are already working, do you think?
“Definitely. Then you could think of evening courses on technology, which you set up for a wider audience. The university already does that, but still on a relatively small scale. The university could pay more attention to that. At the same time, I also think there is an important role for the government. You should make it more attractive for knowledge workers, of whom we have a great lack in certain disciplines, to come to the Netherlands, so that they don't choose another country. You see, for instance, that countries like France let a lot of Indian Big Data specialists come to France, to fill shortages to some extent. This should be monitored more, now that the labour market is changing so fast.”
Should the UvA also make it more attractive for students to take certain, technological courses?
“I would think that’s a good idea, yes. First and foremost, it’s very important that students choose the study programme for which they themselves have the most intrinsic motivation. That will take you the furthest. But I do think you can nudge a bit, so encourage students to choose study programmes for jobs in which there are shortages. Certainly think about programmes for practical professions. But when I look at Dutch study programmes such as Artificial Intelligence, I am happy to see in practice that there is a lot of enthusiasm for this among students.”
