Davos, Switzerland — The transformation seen in the labor market brought about by green transition and new technologies has raised concerns about how AI will impact the market, said Veronica Nilsson, General Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD.
She spoke with TRENDS on the sidelines of Davos 2025. She was part of a panel, ‘The Jobs Gap’, which addressed how can we have high-quality employment at the heart of future economic policy, especially at a time when nearly a quarter of jobs are exposed to disruption.
Despite a recent fall in global unemployment, 402 million people are still lacking jobs. Filling in this gap and addressing a lack of employment opportunities is critical to reducing existing inequalities.
What pressing changes do you see in the labor market and what can we expect in 2025?
We are very concerned with the transformations in the labor market, particularly in the green transition market but also the new technologies. We are already seeing that, for example, in the green transition, the new jobs that have been created are of lower quality and workers are less protected. We see that jobs in polluting industries, in high-emission industries, tend to disappear but the new jobs that are created tend to be not as well paid as the old jobs. So, this is a huge challenge for us. And the big question is, of course, how AI is going to transform labor markets.
It’s too early to say, but I think many jobs are threatened by AI. And, traditionally, when we have had technological changes in the past, it has been more of blue-collar jobs. But now, I do think that white-collar jobs are going to disappear. We need to try to steer the developments so that AI is complementary to human skills, not replace them. But we don’t know exactly what will happen.
Are you optimistic?
I wouldn’t say that I’m optimistic about AI not overtaking jobs. But I do believe that it can add value to the work. AI can indeed help workers in many ways, help with heavy lifts, and make some jobs more stimulating. But AI can also replace people. We see it all in everyday life. If you go to the supermarket, you don’t need anybody else to receive the money. You can swipe the machine. So, definitely, jobs are going to disappear.
I just think that we have to prepare for the worst and make sure that we have the right regulatory framework so we don’t end up in this situation and also to make sure that our workers can bargain collectively over the introduction of AI in the workplace so that they have a voice on how AI is used in the workplace. That for us is fundamental.
And collaboration in the intelligent age is the theme. The job market is all about, you know, that shift towards smarter and more innovative technologies, more innovative ways to do things.
So how do you see the conversation around these issues shaping up, and what will be your key takeaways from discussions and engagements?
Well, I was very, happy to hear some of the voices in the jobs panel before, where some companies were really committing to doing a lot of good things and making sure that workers are part of this process, that they’re not being excluded. But I also think that in Davos, there has been a lot of focus on deregulation, and that makes me worried because I do see the power of a few companies that control AI. So, I think deregulation vis-a-vis AI is totally the wrong approach. It needs to be regulated.
Yes, especially when it is across borders and has multiple stakeholders.
Exactly. There are so many things. What happens to workers’ data, for example, or the data that is collected? What happens to that? How do I deal with that? What are the rules that apply? So even if collective bargaining is really crucial to deal with AI in the workplace, we just need a regulatory framework behind that.
So are you a proponent or opponent of introducing more AI into the job market?
I would say that to the extent that AI really helps workers, and it can help with many things. And one more thing we heard today is also how AI can prevent discrimination and biases in recruitment. But it can also be the opposite. It can also be that you build in the discrimination into the technology so that it gets even worse. So, it can go either way. That is why politicians, policymakers, and big tech companies have a huge responsibility. And if we are not there to push them, maybe they won’t take that responsibility.