AI could displace 600,000 workers in five years, but Putrajaya says there's a fix to this

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Up to 600,000 workers from 10 key industries could be displaced as artificial intelligence, digitalisation and green technology begin to shape the future of work although most can expect to be absorbed into new emerging roles, according to estimates by the Ministry of Human Resources (Kesuma).

The estimate is part of a report prepared by Talentcorp that collaborated with several industries to study the impact of these technologies on work in a bid to prepare workers, which Kesuma will release in November together with a website.

Its minister Steven Sim, speaking at a press conference here, said he hoped the report would guide industries and workers to navigate through the shocks that will come as more firms use AI and digitalisation to automate.

“We found that there could be 60 new types of jobs to come out of the technologies in the next three to five years and the report will show you the most impacted jobs, the medium impacted jobs and low impacted jobs,” he said.

“But we also found that people with highly impacted jobs can easily transition into new roles. I don’t want people to take this report in a negative, pessimistic or cynical way. The reason we have this report is so that we can prepare ourselves, we won’t be caught by surprise.”

The study’s findings will be detailed out in the website that provides easy-to-read information and Sim revealed his ministry plans to make the study ongoing, with more sectors included in the next few years.

For the upcoming report, the study looked into the impact of AI, digitalisation and green tech in ten crucial sectors only.

They are information and communication technology, global business services, pharmaceutical manufacturing, food manufacturing and services, electrics and electronics, aerospace, wholesale and retail trade, medical devices, chemicals and energy and power. These sectors contribute up to 60 per cent of GDP in 2023, with a value of RM933 billion.

The report is expected to give a detailed breakdown of which of these sectors will be the most affected.

Sim said the website will help workers transition into new jobs that would emerge as a consequence of the technologies by providing information and incentives for upskilling or reskilling.