UK business leaders think AI will create more jobs that it destroys – the reality lies somewhere in between

UK business leaders are confident that AI will create more jobs than it destroys, despite recurring claims of a pending ‘jobs apocalypse’.

According to research from Box, nearly two-thirds (65%) of UK business leaders said they expect their organization’s overall headcount to increase over the next three years, with just 14% expecting workforce numbers to decrease.

This optimistic outlook comes amid growing AI maturity at organizations across the country, the study noted. Many are entering a “new phase of AI adoption”, moving beyond basic experimentation to fully embedding AI and agents within core operations.

Notably, among those using agents, only 8% said the technology is eliminating existing roles. If anything, the majority of enterprises report surging demand for new, AI-focused positions to support adoption.

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Nearly half (48%), for example, are hiring ‘AI agent operators’ within IT teams, with this new class of specialist working in tandem with automated bots across a range of areas.

Elsewhere, 32% are adding ‘workflow automation specialists’, security, risk, and compliance professionals (31%), and governance and AI ethics specialists (26%) to their roster.

Box noted that the findings suggest that UK firms are now coming to view AI as a “workforce transformation opportunity” that’s creating a demand for new skills and expertise, rather than a destroyer of roles.

"UK organizations are moving beyond AI experimentation and into operationalization,” said Samantha Wessels, president of EMEA at Box.

"We're entering the era of the agentic enterprise, where AI is becoming embedded into everyday business processes and workflows. The companies seeing the greatest success are not simply deploying more AI tools; they are building the foundations that allow AI to scale across the business, including trusted content, governance frameworks and the teams needed to manage agentic workflows.”

No AI ‘jobs apocalypse’ after all

The research from Box comes in stark contrast to what has become a prevailing sentiment across the tech industry in recent years, mainly that AI could render millions of roles obsolete.

Workers across a range of industries and professions – from software engineering and HR, to marketing and customer support – have been bombarded with warnings about a pending jobs apocalypse due to the technology.

Last year, for example, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could destroy up to half of all ‘white collar’ roles, while concerns over the impact of AI on entry-level positions reached boiling point.

In March this year, Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman also warned that white collar roles could be automated by AI within just 18 months.

These bold claims by big tech figures have become a contentious topic in recent months. Some industry leaders have hit back at suggestions while others have changed their tune.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently dismissed claims that AI advances could lead to mass workforce disruption, noting that roles across a range of industries will still require human involvement.

Speaking during a session at a Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) conference, Altman said widespread upheaval in white collar work is yet to materialize.

"I don't think we're going to have the kind ​of jobs apocalypse that some of the companies in our space advocate or talk about,” Altman said.

AI will still cause upheaval

Mixed messaging over the impact of AI on global labor markets has become another point of contention in recent months. While debates among industry leaders rage, research does point to disruption.

In January this year, Forrester projected that roughly 10.4 million jobs could be eliminated due to AI by 2030 as enterprises ramp up automation of roles.

Speaking at the time, Forrester VP principal analyst JP Gownder noted the scale of cuts could eclipse the number of jobs lost during the Great Recession of 2008, which saw around 8.7 million people out of work.

What has become clear is that AI will fundamentally reshape roles and responsibilities for individual workers in years to come.

As ITPro reported in December last year, Gartner expects AI to prompt a mass wave of upskilling and reskilling as enterprises look to equip workers with new skills to compensate for the use of the technology.

Indeed, the consultancy projects that from 2028 onwards, roughly 32 million jobs a year will be “reconfigured, redesigned, or fused”.

Helen Poitevin, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, told ITPro that this will create a degree of upheaval, but nothing akin to a jobs apocalypse.

Gartner estimates that around 150,000 people will need to be upskilled each day and “supported in new ways of working” due to the technology.

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