According to a recent World Economic Forum survey, almost half of global bosses plan to replace employees with AI within the next five years, putting jobs like clerical workers, data entry clerks, customer service representatives, and administrative assistants at the highest risk of being replaced due to their repetitive, easily automated tasks. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Global Bosses: Key Points [1, 5, 6]

• Impact on workforce: The survey indicates that 41% of employers globally intend to reduce their workforce due to AI advancements, replacing human workers with automated systems like chatbots and large language models. [1, 5, 6]
• Jobs most at risk: Roles that involve routine data analysis, basic administrative tasks, and customer service interactions are considered most vulnerable to AI replacement. [2, 4, 7]
• Upskilling needed: While many jobs might be replaced, the report also highlights the growing demand for workers with AI skills, suggesting a shift towards roles that can work alongside and manage AI technology. [1, 4, 6]

Global Bosses: Jobs That Are At Risk:

• Clerical and secretarial staff: Executive secretaries, administrative assistants, postal service clerks [3, 4, 6]
• Data entry workers: Individuals primarily responsible for data inputting [3, 4]
• Customer service representatives: Roles that handle routine customer inquiries [2, 4, 8]
• Basic financial roles: Bookkeepers, data analysts performing repetitive tasks [7, 9]
• Certain creative roles: Graphic designers may see some automation in basic design tasks [6, 8]

Even CEOs think they’re replaceable

If it’s any consolation, it’s not just workers that bosses expect to replace with AI. A separate study from edX revealed that nearly half of CEOs believe AI could potentially replace their own jobs too.

Avital Balwit, the chief of staff at one of AI’s hottest startups, Anthropic, is one of few execs who has openly admitted her job, along with most others, are destined for obsolescence—and anyone who thinks otherwise is in denial.

“I am 25. The next three years might be the last few years that I work,” the Gen Zer wrote in a personal essay in Palladium. “I am not ill, nor am I becoming a stay-at-home mom, nor have I been so financially fortunate to be on the brink of voluntary retirement.”

“I stand at the edge of a technological development that seems likely, should it arrive, to end employment as I know it,” Balwit explained.

Sources:

[1] https://fortune.com/2025/01/16/world-economic-forum-says-41-of-bosses-worldwide-have-plans-to-fire-you-in-the-next-5-years-to-replace-you-with-ai/

[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/world-economic-forum-says-41-110400834.html

[3] https://www.fastcompany.com/91256947/jobs-most-at-risk-fastest-growing-declining-by-2030-ai-wef-world-economic-forum

[4] https://www.eweek.com/news/jobs-report-ai-workforce-reduction/

[5] https://www.inkl.com/news/new-survey-reveals-that-41-of-bosses-across-the-globe-have-plans-to-fire-you-in-the-next-5-years-and-replace-you-with-an-ai-that-can-do-your-job

[6] https://www.vice.com/en/article/ai-is-set-to-replace-41-of-jobs-in-the-next-five-years/

[7] https://www.newsweek.com/jobs-most-risk-ai-employment-tasks-artificial-intelligence-1909671

[8] https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-jobs-at-risk-replacement-artificial-intelligence-ai-labor-trends-2023-02

[9] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/02/28/what-white-collar-jobs-are-safe-from-ai-and-which-professions-are-most-at-risk/