AI pushing more graduates onto benefits, says UWV

The rise of AI is likely contributing to an increase in highly educated people claiming unemployment benefits in the Netherlands, according to benefits agency UWV.

The share of people claiming unemployment benefit (WW) who have an hbo college or university education rose from 30% in the first half of 2022 to 38% this year. The agency says this is partly because more people in the Netherlands are highly educated.

The agency reports a sharp number in claims from programmers and software developers. Reorganisation in IT-driven sectors like banking has also played a role.

Claims from highly educated marketing and advertising staff and market researchers have also risen sharply, which UWV says is “probably” linked to AI taking over tasks.

“We increasingly see technological developments, particularly artificial intelligence, as the cause,” UWV board member Judith Duveen told the Financieele Dagblad. “But part of it is also due to geopolitical uncertainty.”

UWV said it expects financial services to lose more jobs than any other sector in the coming years. Several big banks are cutting support staff, such as anti-money laundering teams, partly through digitalisation and AI. Accountants, junior lawyers, translators, copywriters and customer service staff are also listed as under threat.

The tech sector is still expected to add more jobs than any other sector, the report says, as demand grows for AI advisers and data and security specialists despite some programming work being automated.

On Monday, the Dutch central bank DNB published an analysis which found that a quarter of Dutch workers are in jobs where AI can speed up at least half of their tasks. Hbo and university graduates make up 62% of workers in the most exposed occupations, against 45% of the workforce as a whole. DNB said its measure shows where AI can support or automate tasks, not whether jobs will be lost.