Jobs Most Exposed to AI: What Studies Show

One in four workers is in a job with some AI exposure.

That is the International Labour Organization's 2025 estimate. Exposure means some tasks could be done or helped by generative AI, and the ILO says transformation, not replacement, is the most likely result.

Updated 16 October 2026 · 6 sources

Tasks, not whole jobs
Exposure is not job loss
Office work leads the list
What the studies actually measure

Check a kind of work

THE SHORT ANSWER

Office tasks first,
hands-on work last.

Studies score the tasks inside each job.
Jobs full of reading, writing and forms score highest.

CLERICAL

Clerical work leads

The ILO's 2025 index finds clerical occupations have the highest exposure of all, because generative AI could in theory automate many of their tasks.

Check a kind of work

PROFESSIONALS

Desk professions too

A UK Department for Education study ranks management consultants, accountants and psychologists among the most exposed jobs, with finance and insurance the most exposed sector.

See the numbers

HANDS-ON

Trades sit at the bottom

The same study puts roofers, plasterers and steel erectors among the least exposed: manual work in unpredictable places that is hard to automate.

Read a headline

A roofer seen from behind laying grey slates on a pitched roof under a blue sky — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

FOUR QUESTIONS FOR ANY AI JOBS HEADLINE

Before you
believe the number.

Headlines about AI and jobs often blur very different measures. These four questions come straight from how the studies describe their own limits.

Exposure or loss?
Most studies count jobs whose tasks AI could touch. The ILO says its figures are potential exposure, not actual job losses.
Tasks or whole jobs?
The ILO scored nearly 30,000 tasks. Most jobs mix tasks AI can help with and tasks that still need people.
Which country?
Exposure rises with income: 34 per cent of jobs in high-income countries against 11 per cent in low-income ones.
What do firms report?
Check survey data. In June 2026 most UK firms using AI told the ONS their headcount had not changed.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Wide exposure,
slow change so far.

One global estimate of exposure,
one count of UK firms actually using AI.

1 in 4

Workers in a job with some GenAI exposure

The ILO puts 25 per cent of global employment in occupations potentially exposed to generative AI: 34 per cent in high-income countries and 11 per cent in low-income ones.

WORLDWIDE · ILO 2025

≈ 35%

Firms with 10+ staff using at least one AI tool

Up from around 12 per cent in late 2023. Around half of businesses say AI has had no impact on their headcount so far.

UK FIRMS · ONS 2026

The ILO stresses its figures reflect potential exposure, not actual job losses. The ONS says AI use has not yet translated into widespread changes in workforce headcount.

A QUICK JOB CHECK

How exposed is
this kind of work?

Pick a kind of work to see where the studies place it. The bar shows how exposed its tasks are to AI, not how likely the job is to disappear.

Based on ILO Working Paper 140 (May 2025) and the Department for Education report The impact of AI on UK jobs and training (November 2023).

Job check

Choose a kind of workClerical and admin workFinance, law and consultingMedia, web and softwareTeaching and trainingBuilding trades

Clerical and admin workHighest exposure

The ILO finds clerical jobs the most exposed of all. The DfE's list adds credit controllers, HR administrators and payroll clerks.

Finance, law and consultingHigh exposure

The DfE's top five include management consultants, financial managers and accountants. Solicitors rank second for exposure to language AI.

Media, web and softwareRising

The ILO says better voice, image and video tools raised scores for media and web tasks. It notes software developers are used to fast digital change.

Teaching and trainingHigher, via language AI

The DfE says teaching shows higher exposure, mainly to large language models. Further education teachers rank fourth on its language AI list.

Building tradesLeast exposed

Roofers, plasterers, steel erectors and elementary construction jobs are among the least exposed, along with sports players and vehicle valeters.

Sources: ILO Working Paper 140 and research brief (20 May 2025); DfE, The impact of AI on UK jobs and training, Tables 2 and 3. Exposure measures tasks AI could affect, not job losses.

Hands sorting paper forms and letters into wire desk trays next to a computer keyboard in an office — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

WHO IS MOST EXPOSED

Women's jobs
score higher.

Because women are more often employed in clerical work, the ILO finds their jobs more exposed. In the highest exposure group sit 4.7 per cent of women's jobs worldwide, against 2.4 per cent of men's.

The gap widens in high-income countries, at 9.6 per cent of female employment against 3.5 per cent of male. The ILO's 2023 study reached a similar view and found the main effect of generative AI was more likely to augment jobs than to automate them.

In conversation

Questions people ask

Will AI take a quarter of all jobs?

No study says that. The ILO finds one in four workers is in an occupation with some generative AI exposure, stresses that this is potential exposure rather than job losses, and says transformation is the most likely outcome.

Which jobs are most exposed to AI?

Globally, the ILO puts clerical jobs at the top. In the UK, the Department for Education lists management consultants and business analysts, financial managers, accountants and psychologists as most exposed, and solicitors high for language AI.

Which jobs are least exposed?

The DfE's least exposed list includes sports players, roofers, plasterers, steel erectors, elementary construction jobs and vehicle valeters: mostly manual work in unpredictable settings.

Are UK businesses cutting staff because of AI?

Not widely so far. In June 2026, around half of UK businesses told the ONS that AI had no impact on headcount, and just under 7 per cent of medium-sized firms reported a decrease.

Why are richer countries more exposed?

They employ more people in professional, managerial and office jobs full of cognitive tasks. The ILO puts exposure at 34 per cent of jobs in high-income countries and 11 per cent in low-income ones.

Sources

Each figure on this page comes from the sources below.

Which jobs will
AI change?