Around 1 million specialized jobs in the ICT (information and communications technologies) sector in Italy could be at risk from the large-scale use of artificial intelligence. That’s the conclusion of a study conducted by major multinationals in the sector and supported by the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, the diplomatic forum created by Brussels and Washington to strengthen transatlantic commercial and technological ties.
The study, conducted by the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium (a consortium that includes tech giants like Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Accenture, Eightfold, IBM, Indeed, Intel, and SAP), focused on six labor markets: the United States, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy. The analysis is based on assessments by top industry experts and analyzes the potential impact of AI on the core skills required for 47 of the most sought-after job positions in the sector. The results are discouraging: 91.5% of specialized ICT jobs are at risk. In the EU alone, this represents a population of 10 million workers, including 970,000 in Italy alone, according to the latest Eurostat data for 2023.
As AI tools evolve, “certain skills (e.g. AI ethics, responsible AI, rapid engineering, AI literacy, Large Language Model architecture, and agile methodologies) will grow in importance, while others may become less relevant (traditional data management, content creation, document maintenance, programming and basic languages, and information search),” the report states.
The categories of workers most at risk range from AI/ML Engineer to Business Analyst, Cloud Engineer to Data Scientist, Digital Marketing Specialist to Help Desk Analyst, and Software Engineer, Software Testing and Debugging team, Technical Writer and UX Designer. It’s not certain that these numbers will disappear, but it’s very likely that a large portion of their skills will become obsolete as AI replaces them.
According to a survey of IBM executives cited in the study, 87% of executives expect their job roles to be expanded rather than replaced by AI. What is needed, the report says, is an urgent need to launch initiatives to update and retrain employees. Companies need to do this so that they do not fall behind in global competition. But public resources will also be needed, and there are plenty of them. In her opening speech to the EU Parliament, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that she would “significantly increase financing for a just transition in the next long-term budget,” including addressing labor market challenges.
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
