Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to disrupt traditional career paths, reduce demand for routine work, and expose gaps in the Philippines’ preparedness for the technology, according to experts and researchers during a webinar hosted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
Speakers said AI is creating new jobs and improving productivity across industries, but warned that governments, schools, and businesses may not be adapting fast enough to prevent wider inequality and job displacement.
“The labor market is changing in three fundamental ways,” said Alexis Antoniades during his presentation, “AI, Skills, and the Future of (No) Work.” He cited growing skills mismatches, declining demand for routine work, and disruptions to traditional career pathways.
Drawing from an analysis of more than 1.5 billion job vacancies in the United States and China, Antoniades said occupations are increasingly converging around digital competencies such as programming, data analysis, and data visualization.
“Soft skills are becoming more important…But skill-based training is not necessarily the one we teach students at the university,” he said, noting that companies are shifting from degree-based hiring toward skills-based recruitment.
Antoniades also warned that AI may weaken the traditional process through which workers gain experience and advance professionally.
“AI has disrupted the pipeline where you start from low…you learn, gain experience, and start moving up,” he said. “How are we going to end up with senior lawyers… or experienced finance professionals if [we are] not hiring entry-level[s]?”
He added that AI-driven productivity gains may increasingly favor those who control advanced technologies while leaving many workers struggling to keep pace.
“We would be lucky if we even know the right questions to ask,” Antoniades said, referring to the rapid pace of AI development.
In the Philippine setting, researchers highlighted uneven readiness for AI adoption among local government units (LGUs).
Presenting the study “How Ready Are LGUs for AI Adoption?”, Francis Mark Quimba said the Philippine AI sector is projected to grow from $772 million in 2024 to $3.4 billion by 2030, but many LGUs remain constrained by weak infrastructure, limited technical capacity, and inadequate digital investments.
The study found that most LGUs demonstrate only low to moderate readiness for AI adoption, with major gaps in digital infrastructure, ICT staffing, governance systems, and long-term planning.
“AI policy adoption in ASEAN has lagged significantly behind OECD countries, and within the Philippines, internet access is also a concern,” Quimba said.
Quimba added that the readiness divide is also geographical, with the National Capital Region outperforming several regions that continue to face connectivity and institutional limitations.
“The intent is there, but the implementation and budget allocation are not,” he said.
The webinar also tackled how AI is reshaping workplace practices in Philippine industries.
Citing a study by the Department of Labor and Employment – Institute for Labor Studies, Senior Labor and Employment Officer Chelsea Nicole Pineda said AI adoption is becoming more common in the information technology and business process management, manufacturing, and banking and finance sectors.
Companies are using AI to improve productivity, automate repetitive tasks, strengthen fraud detection systems, and streamline recruitment and customer service operations.
However, Pineda said workers continue to raise concerns over job security, mental health, workload changes, and the ethical use of AI in the workplace.
“Because of AI adoption, [workers] feel their workload has increased,” she said, explaining that some employees now spend additional time verifying AI-generated outputs and checking for errors.
Although only six percent of surveyed firms reported workforce reductions linked to AI adoption, concerns over displacement remain widespread, particularly in sectors exposed to automation.
The study also identified rising demand for AI-related jobs such as data analysts, AI engineers, machine learning specialists, and prompt engineers.
Pineda stressed that AI systems should remain human-centered despite wider workplace integration.
“AI must be designed to respect the fundamental human rights and should complement human work and not replace individual workers within enterprises,” she said.
Antoniades said soft skills such as communication, critical thinking, and creativity may become even more valuable as technical barriers continue to decline.
“If you use AI just to give you the answer to a problem and you just paste it, you will be the first to become obsolete in the labor market,” he said. “The advantage will belong to those who can think and use AI to build.”
