Spain | AI and employment: early signs of adjustment?

Summary

The debate over the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market has resurfaced. Despite continued job creation, AI-exposed sectors such as ICT are undergoing adjustments that may reflect post-pandemic normalization and task reallocation rather than technological unemployment.

Key points

• Key points:
• Employment in computer programming, telecommunications, and information services declined by 6.4% over the past year.
• By contrast, the financial sector shows high exposure to artificial intelligence, yet employment continues to grow strongly, posting a 10.3% year-over-year increase.
• Evidence from the United States suggests that the adjustment is occurring more through reduced hiring and the disappearance of entry-level tasks that traditionally served as learning opportunities than through layoffs, with employment among 22- to 24-year-olds in the most exposed sectors falling by 12% since the emergence of large language models.
• The risk for Spain is not that there is too much AI, but rather that adoption occurs with insufficient training, limited organizational restructuring, and weak transitions between universities, vocational education, and businesses. The evidence emerging so far should help policymakers and companies better manage a transition that is already underway.

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