Artificial Intelligence, Occupations, and Career Guidance

OECD

Connecting The Dots in The Labour Market

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impacts on occupations and the labour market have become burgeoning and blistering topics, reminiscent of the eras of the creation of the internet and of rapid progress in the development of information and communications technology (ICT) and their impacts. This newsletter examines the impacts of AI on occupations and the labour markets and the potential role of career guidance in supporting workforce and occupational change.

According to the OECD’s Employment Outlook 2023, AI can bring many benefits to the workplace such as higher productivity, improved job quality and stronger occupational safety and health. The risks from AI include automation, loss of agency, bias and discrimination, breaches of privacy and a lack of transparency. Jobs will change, be created or disappear, and skills needs will shift. In the OECD 2023 survey of employers and workers on the impact of AI in the finance and manufacturing sectors, the following findings are instructive:

EMPLOYER RESPONSE.               FINANCE SECTOR               MANUFACTURING SECTOR
1.Retraining or upskilling                               64%                                          71%

of existing workers                                                                                   
2. Buying services from                                  53%                                           53%

external companies                                                                                  
3. Hiring new workers                                     35%                                           48%
4. Attrition or redundancies                           17%                                           14%
 

AI brings opportunities, challenges, and risks for the existing workforce. The big question is: who supports workers and employers in such significant workforce changes? While one can expect that human resource departments in large companies fulfil this role, the majority of workers worldwide are employed in small to medium enterprises (SMEs). In most countries, career guidance provision for workers and employers to support such change is absent or very limited and many public employment services who might provide such support have other program priorities.

The ensuing OECD policy recommendations for governments are to support low wage workers to mitigate losses in purchasing power and to ensure training for AI for the workforce through employer interventions. Missing, however, from the OECD conclusions is a policy recommendation for supporting the human factor, how to support workers and employers in a time of change. Within the OECD, it’s about joining the dots! Career readiness, an OECD priority research topic associated with the annual PISA study, does not stop at adolescence! It’s a lifelong challenge.

Contrast that missing link with the OECD Employment Outlook 2024 which recognised the importance of career guidance provision for a workforce in transition from Green House Gas (GHG) intensive industries. The recommendations for government include supporting the reskilling of workers: “Developing skill assessment and anticipation exercises that incorporate the potential effects of the transition is crucial. Strengthening career guidance by enhancing its quality and coverage, and raising awareness of potential opportunities, are also essential steps to connect workers with training and career openings resulting from the net-zero transition”.

Contrast that absence also with the OECD Employment Outlook 2025 where the OECD's concern was a shrinking workforce due to demographic trends of population ageing.  Here, the OECD recommends to governments to boost the skills of older workers in order to retain them:  “Supporting older workers in maintaining and adapting their skills is crucial, and involves shifting to a career model where learning at work takes place throughout life. Stronger action to expand access to career guidance and lifelong learning should be considered, especially for mid-career and older workers”. 

Career guidance provision is essential at the crossroads of workforce change. Connecting the dots between the three OECD policy concerns above (AI, GHG transitioning, and shrinking workforce) and the career readiness of adult workers is a step in the right direction that requires national/regional government policy and programme interventions. It’s time for national level investment in career guidance provision for adults to support workforce change!

John McCarthy, Director, ICCDPP
25 October 2025