GCRI · Futuro del trabajo y las competencias
Automatización y empleo
Automation, robotics and AI take over some tasks, assist others and create new ones. Whether this displaces workers, raises productivity and wages or does both depends on the tasks involved, how firms deploy technology and how institutions support transitions. This page sets out how automation affects jobs, how exposure and impact are measured, and what evidence serves the policymakers, employers and unions responsible.
Automation and jobs on the record.
Automation and jobs: how the risk develops.
AI/robotics impact and job redesign. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Tasks, not whole jobs
Most occupations combine tasks that can be automated with tasks that cannot. Automation reshapes jobs more often than it eliminates them outright.
Displacement and reinstatement
Technology displaces labour from some tasks and creates new tasks that need people. Net effects depend on the balance between the two.
Productivity gains may not reach wages
If gains accrue mainly to capital owners, automation can raise output while wages stagnate for exposed workers.
Transitions are costly for individuals
Displaced workers often face long unemployment or lower pay in new jobs, especially older workers and those in declining regions.
How automation and jobs is modelled, measured and tested.
El modelo, sus supuestos, sus datos y su incertidumbre, en la forma en que un científico o un ingeniero los comprobaría. Las estructuras siguen métodos publicados. Los valores representados son ilustrativos, no hallazgos.
Modelo de sistema
The couplings between the systems in automation and jobs: signs of influence, a reinforcing and a balancing loop, and cross-links where stress jumps.
Automation exposure differs by domain.
Findings are designed for the serie Exponential Technology. The ILO’s 2023 working paper estimates exposure, which is not job loss.
- Firm adoption data.
- Worker surveys.
Qué se mide y con qué calidad.
Cada indicador lleva su unidad, su periodicidad, el tipo de fuente que lo respalda y la etiqueta de evidencia que llevaría un valor. No se muestran valores: un programa los aporta bajo su propia autoridad.
| Indicador | Unidad | Cadencia | Tipo de fuente | Etiqueta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment in occupations with high automation exposure | percent of employment | por evaluación | Task-based exposure studies | ESTIMADO |
| Firms using AI or robots | percent of firms | per survey | Business surveys | NOTIFICADO |
| Displaced worker re-employment rate | percent re-employed within a year | per survey | Displaced worker surveys | NOTIFICADO |
| Wage change after displacement | percent | per survey | Linked employer-employee data | ESTIMADO |
| Labour share of income | porcentaje del PIB | anual | Cuentas nacionales | ESTIMADO |
| New job titles emerging | recuento | anual | Occupational classification updates and job postings | OBSERVADO |
De dónde procede la evidencia.
Conjuntos de datos públicos y registros institucionales identificados, cada uno con su tipo de licencia. Las fuentes obtenidas por acuerdo solo se utilizan conforme a sus condiciones y nunca se republican.
| Fuente | Lo que aporta | Tipo de licencia |
|---|---|---|
| ILO global studies on generative AI exposure | Occupational exposure estimates by country and gender | Public, ILO terms |
| OECD studies on automation and AI in the labour market | Evidence on exposure and adoption | Public, OECD terms |
| US Bureau of Labor Statistics Displaced Worker Survey | Outcomes of displaced workers | Public domain, US government |
| O*NET occupational task database | Task content of occupations used in exposure studies | Abierta, CC BY 4.0 |
| Eurostat enterprise AI and robot use statistics | Adoption by firms | Open, Eurostat reuse policy |
Quién decide y a qué sirve la evidencia.
Future of Work and Skills prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Quién decide | La pregunta | Evidencia a la que sirve esta página |
|---|---|---|
| Labour ministries | Which workers and regions need transition support | Exposure profiles; displacement evidence |
| Employers and unions | How to introduce technology and share gains | Adoption and wage evidence |
| Training providers | Which skills to build for new tasks | Emerging task evidence |
Productos que genera este tema
- Task-based exposure profiles by occupation and group
- Displacement and re-employment analyses
- Evaluation designs for transition programmes
- Evidence notes for social dialogue on technology
What researchers ask about automation.
- Which tasks can current AI and robots perform reliably and at acceptable cost?
- When does technology substitute for workers and when does it complement them?
- How are productivity gains shared between firms, workers and consumers?
- How can jobs be redesigned so people keep meaningful, skilled work?
Displacement, productivity and new work.
Automation has a displacement effect, as machines take over tasks, and a productivity effect, as lower costs raise demand and employment elsewhere. Historically, new tasks and occupations have also emerged, reinstating demand for labour. The balance between these forces determines the net effect on employment and wages.
Industrial robots mainly automate physical, repetitive tasks in manufacturing and logistics. Generative AI reaches cognitive tasks such as drafting, summarising and coding. Evidence from early workplace studies suggests AI assistance can raise productivity, sometimes most for less experienced workers, but effects vary widely by task and implementation. What employers choose to automate, and how, matters as much as technical capability.
Evidence on automation and its limits.
- 01
Task exposure measures
Matching technology capabilities to occupational task descriptions, informed by inteligencia artificial y aprendizaje automático and robotics and automation. Measures depend on judgements about capability that age quickly.
- 02
Robot adoption studies
Linking robot installations to local employment and wages with econometría. Results differ between countries and periods.
- 03
Workplace experiments
Randomised or natural experiments in firms adopting AI, using ciencias sociales y del comportamiento. Short-run effects may not reflect long-run change.
- 04
Job redesign case studies
How organisations reorganise work around new tools. Case studies illustrate possibilities rather than averages.
Cómo se estudia y lo que los métodos no pueden decir.
- 01Economía y economía del desarrolloAnálisis de la tecnología basado en tareas · Instituciones del mercado laboral · Economía de la transición justaAplicado aquí
- 02Inteligencia artificial y aprendizaje automáticoExtracción de competencias de las ofertas de empleo · Correspondencia de empleos en los servicios de empleoAplicado aquí
- 03Robótica y automatizaciónAdopción de robots y empleo · Seguridad en el trabajo entre personas y robots · Rediseño de los puestos en torno a los robotsAplicado aquí
- 04EconometríaEfectos de desplazamiento con datos vinculados · Evaluación de programas de formación · Proyecciones de la fuerza laboralAplicado aquí
Where this page’s references lead.
Los organismos y documentos con los que se lee esta página. El estado y las ediciones cambian; cada enlace lleva al organismo emisor.
Adónde lleva esta página en todo el Consorcio.
Preguntas y respuestas.
Will automation cause mass unemployment?
What is task-based analysis?
Who is most exposed to automation?
Is automation exposure the same as job loss?
Does AI help or hurt less experienced workers?
Can job redesign prevent displacement?
Does the platform advise firms on automation?
Aporte evidencia desde esta página.
serie Reports is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
- Correo electrónicoPasarela GW-GCRIEnvíelo desde esta páginaEvidencia, una corrección, un caso, un método, una revisión, una traducción o un aporte a un perfil. Llega etiquetado con esta página, de modo que lo recibe el editor responsable.
- ZenodoDepósito abiertoDeposítelo y envíelo a la comunidadPublique su propio registro en Zenodo con su ORCID iD y luego envíelo a la comunidad de Reports allí. Los curadores lo revisan; el DOI sigue siendo suyo.
- serie ReportsGCRIVer todas las formas de contribuirLos tipos de contribución, cómo se revisa cada uno, qué crédito recibe, la licencia y qué nunca se acepta.
No envíe nunca datos personales, detalles sensibles de infraestructura ni nada que no tenga derecho a compartir. Un aporte se revisa antes de su uso; enviarlo no confiere autoría ni derechos editoriales, y el patrocinio nunca compra un hallazgo.
Aporte un método, un conjunto de datos o una pregunta.
La información y las consultas están abiertas hoy. Una consulta recibe una referencia e indica el siguiente paso; las solicitudes, pagos, asignaciones de cómputo y registros solo se abren cuando existen su equipo, sus condiciones y la capacidad de revisión.
Documentos jurídicos.
Los mapas, datos y cifras de este sitio se muestran como contexto e información general. No son consejos, pronósticos ni avisos; los límites de la información se exponen en los Descargos de responsabilidad y los Avisos sobre datos.