FOI reference: FOI-2025-3212
You asked
Have you done any research or carrying out active research into how AI is affecting employment?
We said
Thank you for your request.
We collect information in scope of your request in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey and the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS).
Opinions and Lifestyle Survey
The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey published data on artificial intelligence (AI) and employment in 2023, in our Public awareness, opinions and expectations about artificial intelligence article.
Main points included that, when considering how adults in employment perceived the positive impacts AI could have on their jobs, around:
3 in 10 (28%) think that AI could make their job easier
1 in 9 (11%) think that AI could reduce their working hours without reducing their pay
1 in 13 (8%) think that AI could improve their job prospects
1 in 14 (7%) think that AI could increase their income
When investigating how adults in employment perceived the negative impacts AI could have on their jobs, we found that around:
a third (32%) think AI could put their job at risk
a quarter (23%) think that AI could reduce their income
We found that adults working in professional occupations (41%), managers, directors, and senior officials (34%) and associate professional occupations (34%) were significantly more likely to report AI could make their job easier than adults working in all other occupations
In contrast, adults working in administrative and secretarial (43%), sales and customer service (41%), associate professional (36%), and professional (33%) occupations were significantly more likely to think AI could put their job at risk than adults working in skilled trade (20%) and caring, leisure and other service occupations (18%)
Business Insights and Conditions Survey
The Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) has collected some information on artificial intelligence (AI) and employment. As published in our Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 2 October 2025 bulletin, which contained questions on AI:
nearly a quarter (23%) of businesses reported that they are currently using some form of AI technology in late September 2025, up 3 percentage points from June 2025; this proportion has been steadily increasing since the question was introduced in September 2023 (9%)
in late September 2025, 4% of businesses that currently use some form of AI technology reported that their overall workforce headcount had decreased as a result of using those technologies; 7% of businesses that were planning to adopt some form of AI technology within the next three months reported that they expect headcount to decrease as a result
Data from further questions asked about AI and the impact on workforce were included in the Business insights and impact on the UK economy dataset released alongside the bulletin.
Of businesses that reported in late September 2025 that they are currently using some form of AI technology, or are not sure if they are doing so:
- 33% reported that their approach to integrating AI technology related skills into their workforce has been to train or retrain existing staff.10% reported that their approach has been to automate or replace roles with AI technology, while 4% reported that their approach has been to recruit new staff with AI technology related skills
Of businesses that reported in late September 2025 that they plan to adopt AI technology within the next 3 months or are not sure about doing so:
27% reported they expect administrative or clerical roles to be most impacted by any AI technologies their business plans to adopt, followed by 23% for creative or design roles and 19% for data analysis roles
36% reported that their approach to integrating planned AI technology related skills into their workforce will be to train or retrain existing staff; 12% reported their approach will be to automate or replace roles with AI technology, while 8% reported their approach will be to recruit new staff with AI technology related skills
7% of businesses expect their workforce headcount to decrease as a result of the AI technologies they plan to adopt, this increases to 11% for businesses with 10 or more employees, suggesting that larger businesses are more likely than smaller businesses to expect headcount to decrease as a result of the AI technologies they plan to adopt
Other publications
You may also find our Management practices and the adoption of technology and artificial intelligence in UK firms article of interest.
The article addresses the following research questions:
- How do management practices influence the adoption of technology and AI in UK firms?
- What are the main factors driving AI adoption and the barriers faced by businesses?
- What are the productivity outcomes and future plans for AI adoption in firms?
The article does not directly quantify the employment impacts of AI, however the findings (particularly for research question 2) highlight implications for labour markets. For example, we find that among firms that planned to use AI in 2024, 69% said their reason for this was to improve quality or efficiency of processes or methods, whilet 42% planned to use AI to automate tasks already performed by labour.
Our analysis shows that in 2023, AI was adopted at a greater rate in the services sector (9% in services sector, compared with 5% in manufacturing and non-manufacturing production sector, and 3% in construction sector).
Also, our Public Sector Management Practices Survey pilot, UK: 2023 bulletin includes analysis of AI and technology adoption in the public sector. Within the public sector, AI was being used at a greater rate within central government (47% of organisations), health boards (42%), and local government (42%), but less so in fire and police services (30% of organisations) and education (24%), in 2023. Organisations with experience of using AI were also more likely to report opportunities to automate.
The government's Modern Industrial Strategy (DSIT) may also be of interest. Some of our findings were directly cited in this paper and it also includes some estimates of the employment impacts of digital and technology.