Corporate Visit: Structural Shifts in the Labor Market

A closed-door seminar exploring how AI and technological advancement are reshaping the productivity curve and future employment trends.

Event Overview

Artificial intelligence is integrating into global enterprises and supply chains at an unprecedented pace. This closed-door seminar focused on the deep structural impact of AI on the labor market, bringing together economists and industry practitioners to explore this critical issue.

Unlike previous waves of industrial automation, next-generation AI can not only replace repetitive manual labor but also handle complex cognitive tasks such as data analysis, decision support, and content creation. This means virtually all types of work — from blue-collar to white-collar — could be affected. According to the IMF, nearly 40% of global jobs will be impacted by AI to varying degrees.

The seminar revolved around three core topics: the differentiated impact of AI on workers across skill levels, how enterprises can achieve human-machine collaboration during technological transformation, and how policymakers should build social safety nets adapted to the AI era.

Key Topics

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AI and the Displacement Effect on Labor

Topic 1: AI's Job Displacement and Creation Effects

The breakthrough of generative AI represented by ChatGPT has opened the possibility of automating content creation, coding, and customer service. Research shows that approximately 46% of administrative tasks and 44% of legal work could be performed by AI. However, AI is simultaneously creating new industries and jobs — data labeling, model optimization, and AI ethics review are emerging professions growing rapidly.

This coexistence of displacement and creation deepens structural contradictions in the labor market: on one hand, finding jobs is harder as traditional roles disappear faster; on the other, hiring is difficult as the gap for high-skilled AI talent continues to widen.

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Advanced vs. Developing Economies: Divergent Impacts

Topic 2: Uneven Global Impact

The IMF's "AI Preparedness Index" reveals significant variation in how countries are affected by AI. In advanced economies, approximately 60% of jobs may be impacted — half of which could benefit from human-AI collaboration to boost productivity, while the other half face displacement risks. In emerging markets and low-income countries, the affected shares are 40% and 26% respectively.

Singapore, the United States, and Denmark score highest on the AI Preparedness Index. Many developing countries, lacking digital infrastructure and skilled labor, may be unable to fully leverage AI opportunities — potentially widening inequality between nations over the long term.

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Education Reform & Policy Response

Topic 3: Policy Responses & Talent Development

Facing the AI wave, education system reform is urgently needed. Although Chinese universities offering AI majors surged from 35 in 2019 to 535 in 2024, the AI talent gap still exceeds 5 million. Vocational education and skills training systems have been far too slow to keep pace with technological development.

The seminar discussed several policy recommendations, including: establishing an "AI Transition Diagnostic" system to help enterprises assess automation potential, improving the legal framework and social safety nets for flexible employment, and promoting lifelong learning programs to ensure workers can continuously adapt to technological change.

Event Details

Date

October 1, 2025

Format

Closed-Door Seminar + Corporate Visit

Participants

Approx. 30 scholars and industry representatives

Keywords

AI · Labor Market · Structural Unemployment · Human-AI Collaboration