Bosses warn of job losses to AI | The Business | ABC NEWS

Australia's workforce is on the precipice of major upheaval. The bosses of some of the nation's biggest companies, including Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn and Telstra's chief executive Vicki Brady are warning their human headcount will shrink as a result of advances in artificial intelligence. For now, Australia's labour market is holding up. The jobless rate remained steady in May despite a dip in employment. It came in at 4.1 per cent for the fifth month in a row, in seasonally adjusted terms. Employment decreased by 2,500 people and the number of officially unemployed people declined by 2,600. Since employment and unemployment both declined in May, the labour force shrank a little — by 5,100 people. That saw the participation rate decline by 0.1 percentage points, to 67 per cent, down from 67.1 per cent in April.

In countries where AI is more advanced, layoffs are speeding up. Amazon's the latest big employer to warn of looming job losses. In May, the boss of major US artificial intelligence platform Anthropic, Dario Amodei, warned half of all entry-level white-collar jobs could be wiped out within the next five years. Economists say as white-collar jobs are cut, workers may need to switch industries. Meanwhile, employment minister Amanda Rishworth says the federal government is trying to make sure the workforce is prepared.
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