OECD: Three in Four London Jobs at Risk From AI

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published an analysis showing that London currently has the job market most exposed to automation among all major cities in the developed world. Three in four jobs in the British capital were found to be highly exposed to artificial intelligence, more than in New York, San Francisco, Paris or Berlin.

What the OECD Report Found

According to the OECD analysis, a job is considered 'highly exposed' to artificial intelligence when more than half of its daily tasks could be performed by an AI system. In London, this applies to three out of four jobs, 'now or in the near future,' as the report puts it, as cited among others by the British Telegraph.

The most exposed sectors turned out to be ones previously seen as stable and well paid: finance, banking, consulting and audit services, and the creative and ICT sectors. This reflects the structure of London's economy, which is dominated by office and analytical occupations built around information processing rather than physical labor.

For comparison, the OECD found that 69.6 percent of jobs are highly exposed in Prague, 68.9 percent in Columbia, South Carolina, and 68.8 percent in Warsaw. London therefore outranks not only European metropolises but also cities regarded as hubs of modern services in North America.

City Hall's Response

London Mayor Sadiq Khan addressed the report's findings in a speech at Mansion House, warning that without proper regulation, AI could become a 'weapon of mass job destruction.' He announced the creation of the London AI and Jobs Taskforce, made up of government experts, the vocational education sector and the AI industry, tasked with assessing the scale of the threat and preparing recommendations for the capital's residents.

AI could usher in a new era of mass unemployment, accelerated inequality and unprecedented concentration of wealth and power - Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

Khan stressed that the authorities have a 'moral, social and economic duty to act,' while also announcing free AI training for all Londoners. The taskforce's findings are expected to be presented this summer, and City Hall is already allocating 18 million pounds to boosting digital skills, plus an additional 10.5 million pounds for a job-activation program for around 6,000 people currently outside the labor market.

Signals From Business

A separate survey of London business owners shows growing concern on the employer side. Only half of companies consider their teams' current skills sufficient to cope with technological change, down from 63 percent a year earlier. At the same time, 78 percent of surveyed companies expect a significant rise in demand for AI-related skills within five years, up from 66 percent in 2025.

London is at the very beginning of the artificial intelligence revolution, whose impact on businesses and workers is already being felt - Muniya Barua, BusinessLDN

What This Means for Poland

The OECD data also has a Polish angle: Warsaw, with 68.8 percent of jobs highly exposed, ranks close to the top among European capitals, though still below London or Prague. This aligns with earlier domestic analyses pointing to high exposure of Poland's business services and financial sector to the automation of office tasks.

The risk structure is similar on both sides of the English Channel: the most exposed occupations are those based on document processing, data analysis and standard customer service, functions that in Poland are handled largely by shared services centers and outsourcing firms. The difference lies in pace: London, due to the concentration of its financial and consulting sectors, is feeling the pressure faster than markets with a more diversified employment structure.

For Polish companies and workers, the OECD report is another signal that investing in workforce reskilling is no longer a question for the distant future but for the coming quarters, especially in service industries where automation of analytical and administrative tasks is progressing fastest.