AI Job Displacement: Women in Tech Face Growing Risks

Women in administrative and clerical roles face disproportionate risk from AI-driven automation, according to new research from the Brookings Institution. Of the 6.1 million U.S. workers most vulnerable to AI displacement and least equipped to adapt, 86% are women.

Meanwhile, the UK is experiencing AI-related job losses at twice the rate of other major economies — with women-dominated clerical roles at the highest risk of disappearing entirely.

How Many Women Are at Risk of AI Job Displacement?

Research from the Brookings Institution and the Centre for the Governance of AI examined not just which jobs are exposed to AI, but which workers would struggle most if displaced. The findings paint a stark picture.

Of the 37.1 million U.S. workers in occupations highly exposed to AI, roughly 26.5 million have strong "adaptive capacity" — meaning they have transferable skills, savings, and reemployment prospects that would help them transition to new roles.

However, approximately 6.1 million workers face both high AI exposure and low adaptive capacity. According to the study:

• 86% of these vulnerable workers are women
• Most are concentrated in clerical and administrative roles
• They tend to be older with limited savings
• Geographically concentrated in smaller metro areas, college towns, and state capitals

"These are occupations that have been under attack for a long time," Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings, told CBS News. "It's a bit more about what women do in the economy rather than what they are."

Which Roles Face the Highest Risk?

The Brookings research identified specific occupations with high AI exposure and low adaptive capacity — roles where displaced workers would likely face longer job searches, lower reemployment rates, and significant earnings losses:

Highest-risk clerical and administrative roles:

• General office clerks
• Legal, medical, and executive secretaries
• Payroll and timekeeping clerks
• Insurance claims processors
• Tax preparers and examiners
• Receptionists and information clerks
• Property appraisers and assessors
• Eligibility interviewers for government programs

The contrast with other AI-exposed roles is striking. Office clerks and financial analysts both face similar AI exposure — but financial analysts scored 99% for adaptive capacity while office clerks scored just 22%.

"There's a wider range of things that you need to leverage in [higher-skilled jobs], versus some of these more administrative, back-office-type roles where the core competencies are more narrowly defined," Sam Manning, a fellow at the Centre for the Governance of AI, explained to TechRepublic.

Why Is the UK Being Hit Harder Than Other Countries?

A Morgan Stanley study released in January 2026 found that AI-related job losses are hitting Britain significantly harder than other major economies. British companies reported an 8% net decline in jobs over the past year due to AI adoption — twice the international average of approximately 4% seen in Germany, Japan, and Australia. Most strikingly, the U.S. experienced net positive job creation from AI despite achieving nearly identical 11.5% productivity gains as UK firms.

"This is an early warning sign of the massive disruption AI will have on the workforce," said Rachel Fletcher, head of EMEA Sustainability Research at Morgan Stanley and one of the report's authors.

The disparity with the U.S. is notable: American companies achieved nearly identical productivity gains but created more jobs than they eliminated.

How Are Women Specifically Affected in the UK?

The City of London Corporation released findings this week warning that 119,000 clerical roles across tech, finance, and professional services — positions predominantly held by women — are likely to be displaced by automation over the next decade.

The report identifies several factors compounding the risk for women:

CV-screening bias: Automated recruitment tools often prioritize uninterrupted career histories and narrowly defined technical experience, penalizing women who took career breaks for childcare or moved into non-technical roles.

Digital skills gap: Less than 25% of workers in AI and data science fields in the UK are women, according to the Alan Turing Institute.

Unfilled digital vacancies: More than 12,000 tech vacancies in financial and professional services went unfilled in 2024, creating an opportunity for reskilling displaced workers.

Dame Susan Langley, Lady Mayor of the City of London, said: "By investing in people and supporting the development of digital skills within the workforce, employers can unlock enormous potential and build stronger, more resilient teams."

What's the Economic Cost of Losing Women From Tech?

The broader challenge extends beyond AI displacement. The 2025 Lovelace Report by Oliver Wyman and WeAreTechWomen found that between 40,000 and 60,000 women leave UK tech and digital roles each year.

The economic impact is staggering: women leaving the tech industry entirely costs the UK economy £1.4–2.2 billion annually, while churn from women switching employers adds another £640 million–1.3 billion in lost productivity and recruitment costs. The total annual loss ranges from £2–3.5 billion.

Notably, only 3% of women cited caregiving as their primary reason for leaving. The actual drivers:

• 25%: Lack of career advancement
• 17%: Inadequate recognition
• 15%: Pay inequity
• 8%: Poor company culture
• 8%: Lack of role models or supportive network

"That's not just a statistic, that is a loss — potential lost innovation, lost opportunities — for this country and for all of our organisations," Deborah O'Neill, partner at Oliver Wyman, told Computer Weekly. "How can we have a world where everyone wants to deliver these big, ambitious programmes, but women are saying, 'There's no way for me to advance'?"

More than 75% of women with 11–20 years of experience have waited over three years for a promotion, and over 60% of experienced women earn below industry benchmarks.

What Are the Proposed Solutions?

The City of London Corporation has launched a Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce to address the converging challenges of AI displacement, gender gaps in tech, and digital skills shortages.

Key recommendations:

For employers:

• Shift from rigid job specifications to skills-based hiring
• Prioritize aptitude, adaptability, and potential over linear career paths
• Reskill administrative workers rather than making them redundant — could save £757 million in severance costs
• Fill the 12,000+ unfilled digital vacancies from existing workforce

For policymakers:

• The UK's digital skills shortage could persist until at least 2035 if left unaddressed
• Potential cost to the economy: more than £10 billion in lost growth
• The UK government has committed to scaling the national AI workforce and increasing AI research capacity twentyfold by 2030 — but the sector is already short 98,000–120,000 professionals

For workers:

• The report calls for women in clerical roles to be offered digital upskilling pathways before displacement occurs
• Focus on transferable skills: organizational, analytical, and communication capabilities can translate into digital roles

Are AI Job Losses Actually Happening — Or Just Fear?

Worker anxiety about AI is rising rapidly. A Mercer Global Talent Trends report found that 40% of employees worldwide now fear losing their jobs to AI — up from 28% in 2024.

A Randstad survey found more than a quarter (27%) of UK workers believe their role could be made obsolete within five years.

However, some economists urge caution about overstating immediate impacts. Yale University's Budget Lab analyzed U.S. labor market data from 2022 to 2025 and found little evidence of widespread AI-driven displacement — yet.

"We're skeptical that firms can quickly and seamlessly substitute workers with AI even in sectors where the potential for AI disruption is greatest," said Ben May, director of global macro research at Oxford Economics.

Randstad CEO Sander van't Noordende told CNBC at Davos: "I would argue that those 50,000 job losses are not driven by AI, but are just driven by the general uncertainty in the market. It's too early to link those to AI."

Deutsche Bank analysts warned that "AI redundancy washing will be a significant feature of 2026" — with companies using AI as a convenient narrative for cuts driven by other factors.

What Do Experts Say Will Happen Next?

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at Davos: "AI is hitting the labor market like a tsunami, and most countries and most businesses are not prepared for it."

The Brookings research suggests the real concern isn't mass unemployment but uneven impact:

Who's likely to adapt:

• Workers in marketing, finance, science, and technology
• Those with diverse skill sets, higher savings, and professional networks
• Higher-educated workers with transferable competencies

Who's likely to struggle:

• Workers in narrowly defined administrative roles
• Those with limited savings and older age
• Workers in smaller metro areas with fewer reemployment options
• Disproportionately: women

"If you think that some share of this impact is going to be job displacement, which seems unavoidable to some extent, even if it's not going to be mass unemployment anytime particularly soon, then a core policy challenge here is trying to understand how can we make workers more resilient to that change," said Sam Manning of the Centre for the Governance of AI.

People Also Asked

Q: Why are women more at risk of AI job losses than men?A: Women are disproportionately concentrated in clerical and administrative roles that face high AI exposure while offering limited adaptive capacity — narrower skill transferability, modest savings, and fewer reemployment options. According to Brookings research, 86% of the 6.1 million workers most vulnerable to AI displacement are women, not because of inherent differences but because of occupational segregation in the economy.

Q: What UK jobs are most at risk of AI automation?A: The City of London Corporation estimates 119,000 clerical roles in tech, finance, and professional services face displacement over the next decade. Specifically at risk: general office clerks, secretaries, payroll clerks, insurance claims processors, tax preparers, and receptionists — roles where routine tasks can be automated and skill transferability is limited.

Q: Is AI actually causing job losses right now?A: The picture is mixed. Morgan Stanley research shows UK companies experiencing 8% net job losses from AI — twice the international average. However, Yale's Budget Lab found little evidence of widespread displacement in U.S. data through 2025. Some analysts warn companies may be using "AI redundancy washing" — attributing cuts to AI when other factors are responsible.

Q: What can women in at-risk roles do to protect their careers?A: The City of London Corporation recommends developing digital skills while emphasizing transferable competencies (organizational, analytical, communication skills). The UK faces a shortage of 98,000–120,000 digital professionals, creating opportunities for workers willing to reskill. Industry bodies recommend seeking roles that combine human judgment with AI tools rather than competing directly with automation.

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