“800,000 jobs will be lost due to AI,” warns Andrea Nahles

The head of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles, expects artificial intelligence to revolutionize the labor market in Germany. “We predict that in the next 15 years around 800,000 jobs will be lost in Germany due to AI, but a similar number will also be created,” Nahles told Handelsblatt. "Some industries are hit harder by the cuts, such as service providers for companies, analytical jobs at insurance companies and banks. I would still like to see more investments in AI in Germany - but only if they bring productivity, not because it's chic."

The SPD politician said that job cuts do not generally affect highly qualified people. "In the USA there was a shock study about young academics. Here too, academics take longer to start their careers and may not get their dream job - but they still have far better chances than everyone else." However, not all of this can be attributed to AI. "The weak economy plays a role here. Professions, on the other hand, that can use less AI, such as crafts, are proving to be quite robust."

Here the core of the work remains human craftsmanship. "Even semi-skilled and unskilled people still have a chance because it is sometimes not worth replacing them with AI. But here too, the following applies: In principle, no one is immune anymore."

Work-and-stay agency aims to make Germany competitive

Due to demographics, Germany is losing around 500,000 net workers per year. Net immigration is currently lower than it has been for a long time. “That’s why we also have to attract skilled workers from countries outside the EU,” demanded Nahles. "For this we finally need the promised work-and-stay agency that makes us competitive with other immigration countries. We have to become more modern, more digital and faster."

But the condition is “courage to find a central solution,” she said, referring to the dispute in the coalition and between the federal and state governments over the design of the planned agency. "I'm disappointed that the 550 immigration offices nationwide are apparently supposed to be protected. But they were never intended to be a welcome center for international specialists. They do a good job, but that's not what we need in competition with Canada."