• Almost a fifth (19%) of Swiss employees fear that AI will have a negative impact on their job.
• Skilled workers in the information and communication technology sector (28%) are most worried about being replaced by AI.
• The sector that is least afraid of AI taking over their jobs is agriculture and forestry (11.2%).
• Swiss professionals aged between 50 and 70 are the most concerned about AI in the workplace (19.2%).
• Among the genders, men are more worried about being replaced by AI (19.3%) compared to women (18.7%).
• One in five Swiss believe that AI will negatively impact or replace their role in the next 5-10 years

Lebenslaufapp.ch shows that 19% of Swiss respondents fear that AI will have a negative impact on their work. However, one in three (32.8%) believe that AI can help to improve professional skills in the workplace. Interestingly, male respondents are more sceptical than their female counterparts: 19.3% are certain that AI will have a negative impact on them, compared to 18.7% of female respondents.

Swiss employees between the ages of 50 and 70 are most concerned about AI in the workplace

One in five Swiss workers aged between 50 and 70 (19.2%) are most worried about AI taking over their jobs completely, closely followed by 25 to 49-year-olds (19%). Respondents aged 18 to 24 are the least concerned about AI taking over their jobs (17.9%). This may be due to the fact that the younger generation is growing up in a time of technological advancement, with a tendency to adapt better to new changes in the labour market driven by AI developments.

Industries most afraid of being replaced by AI

The information and communication technology sector is most afraid of losing their job to AI

Over a quarter (28%) of professionals working in information and communication technology fear losing their jobs to AI. This may be due to the fact that IT professionals require advanced technical skills and expertise, which requires many years of professional training, compared to the potential of AI to automate tasks efficiently.

Although AI can increase productivity according to professionals in this sector, 26.3% of professionals in this sector are still worried about it.

Banking and insurance has the second largest proportion of worried professionals, with more than a fifth (22.8%) believing their job is at risk due to AI. The rise of FinTech companies focused on AI has certainly increased competition in the banking and insurance sector. As technology continues to evolve, the traditional banking industry may be inclined to streamline tasks with the help of AI. Therefore, it is not surprising that Swiss professionals working in this industry are worried about their future careers.

Employees working in the professional, science and technology industries are the third most sceptical about AI, with one in five (22%) believing AI has the potential to take over their jobs. However, while AI offers the opportunity to increase productivity, according to the survey, 55.6% of respondents are certain that AI can lead to cost reductions and a rationalisation of operations, resulting in a reduced workforce in the professional, science and technology sector.

Agricultural and forestry workers are least worried about losing their jobs to AI

Less surprisingly, professionals in agriculture and forestry are the least worried about losing their jobs to AI (11.2%). Professionals in the arts, maintenance and private households sectors are also almost unaffected by a possible takeover by AI (12.2%). These jobs generally revolve around complex decisions that require human judgement and intuition. Therefore, experts are also certain that AI will not be able to overcome challenges in the agricultural and maintenance sectors.

Amanda Augustine, career expert at CVapp.ch, explains how job seekers can use AI to their advantage: “AI is an extremely powerful tool that should be used by job seekers in particular to gain a competitive edge in today’s job market. AI can not only help candidates find the right job through algorithms, but can be used effectively in the application process to prepare the perfectly tailored answers for the interview, which ultimately increases confidence. For those younger candidates who are unsure which career path is right for them, AI can provide personalised career advice based on their own goals and preferences to successfully navigate the job search.”

Method

• Experts from Lebenslaufapp.ch wanted to find out whether Swiss professionals are afraid that AI will replace their jobs.
• To achieve this, Lebenslaufapp.ch conducted a uStats.org survey in February 2024, in which 3,000 Swiss professionals were questioned. The survey consisted of closed questions so that respondents could choose from the options provided.
• In addition to the primary questions, data on gender, age and occupation was also collected as additional information for the survey to provide context and improve the overall understanding of the results.

Source reference: ©https://lebenslaufapp.ch

[1] IMB.org – GenAI: Why Switzerland should act now on retraining and regulation.