OECD: Physical labor isn’t immune from AI disruptions

Jobs involving physical labor are at high risk of disruption from automation, according to a recent study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Paris-based public policy group said routine and low-skilled jobs are at higher risk, while jobs requiring non-routine cognitive, social and creative skills are less susceptible to automation. Global AI uptake rose from 7% in 2021 to 20% in 2025, the OECD said.

Jobs involving physical labor are at high risk of disruption from automation, with new technologies such as AI robots becoming more prevalent, according to a recent study https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/skills-in-the-ai-age 972bd15e-en.html by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD . That means workers in construction and extraction, farming, fishing, forestry, production and material transportation could be affected by fast-moving technology changes. “Routine and low-skilled jobs are at higher risk,” the Paris-based public policy group said, adding that “overall, jobs requiring non-routine cognitive, social and creative skills are less susceptible to automation.” The kinds of creative and cognitive jobs still thought to be less exposed to automation include social work and community service roles. OECD also said management jobs — which often require workers to devise creative answers to solve problems — fall within the creative and cognitive category. “While AI has made some high-skill job requirements more susceptible to automation, many critical skills in these roles remain difficult to automate,” OECD said. The same still holds true for some physical and manual labor jobs – including cleaners, agricultural workers, food-prep assistants, and laborers — which are less exposed to the affects of AI, OECD said. But people who work in programming, translating and interpretation positions could find their work affected by the quick rise of AI tools and services. According to the organization, global AI uptake rose from 7% in 2021 to 20% in 2025. “In these occupations, GenAI could perform a significant share of tasks at least twice as fast today or in the near future,” OECD said. The effects of the AI boom are not always uniform across industries or regions. In a separate 2026 Employment Outlook study https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-employment-outlook-2026 7e710f54-en.html released by the group, exposure to disruption from generative AI genAI ranges from about 16% in some areas to more than 70% elsewhere, depending on industries and occupations. Numerous research firms have said in recent years that AI is driving short-term job losses https://www.computerworld.com/article/4151328/ai-threatens-jobs-that-can-be-unbundled-2.html , though tech industry experts and analysts have argued AI will also create new careers and jobs as agentic AI takes over low-skilled work https://www.computerworld.com/article/4100257/mit-creates-an-ai-labor-index-as-agents-invade-human-economies.html . AI technology has become so ubiquitous that it’s been compared to electricity — virtually all companies will need it or at least know how to use it. But it’s adoption has been hindered at times as companies struggle to find ROI from its use, and by regulatory and ethical hurdles. According to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas study https://www.challengergray.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Challenger-Report-June2600986996.pdf released earlier this month, AI was cited as the top reason for job cuts in June. The outplacement firm said employers cut 45,849 job cuts in June, of which 14,029 were attributed to AI, with the tech industry leading the cuts. “Tech remains the epicenter of this year’s cuts,” Challenger said. “AI is the dominant force as companies are restructuring around it, automating roles, and reallocating budgets toward new capabilities. The sector is being reshaped in real time.” Overall, AI has been responsible for 173,568 job cuts since 2021, the company said. AI is hurting jobs in customer service, internal reporting, telecommunications, and hosting automation, said Victor Janulaitis, a staffing consultant who was formerly CEO at Janco Associates Inc. “C-level executives continue to be focused on eliminating ‘non-essential’ managers, staff, and services,” he said. “Coders and developers have limited opportunities with legacy applications.” While jobs in the IT sector overall are declining, current hiring tends to skew in the direction of people with AI skills. A report this month by CompTIA https://www.comptia.org/en/resources/research/tech-jobs-report/ put job listings with AI skills at around 500,000, which is close to double the number in January. “Employers in other industries are accelerating digital transformation initiatives and moving from AI experimentation to implementation,” said Seth Robinson, CompTIA’s vice president for industry research. That view dovetails with what ManpowerGroup, the recruitment firm, is seeing; demand for AI-related skills has nearly doubled over the past year, said Ger Doyle, regional president of North America at ManpowerGroup. That growth extends well beyond traditional technology roles as companies move from experimenting to AI deployments at scale, Doyle said. “We’re seeing it influence hiring across occupations ranging from data science and engineering to project management and operational roles,” he said.