The widespread release of ChatGPT in late 2022 marked a milestone in the development of artificial intelligence. Since then, the number of companies using AI in their day-to-day operations has continued to grow. However, the rise of automation has also raised important questions: How will artificial intelligence affect the labour market? Will it take people’s jobs? Which occupations are most at risk of automation?
Coface has now sought to answer these questions in research conducted jointly with the French organisation Observatoire des Emplois Menacés et Émergents (OEM). The study examined 923 occupations across 32 countries worldwide, including Poland.
The proportion of companies worldwide declaring that they use AI in at least one business function increased from 55% in 2022 to 88% in 2025. Over the same period, the use of generative AI alone rose from 33% to 79%.[1]
The first effects of these changes on the labour market are already becoming visible. They are affecting young people in particular—those at the beginning of their careers who work in occupations and industries especially exposed to artificial intelligence. Which areas of work will undergo the greatest transformation, and what will this mean for companies, employees and the wider economy, including Poland?
A Different Kind of Automation Wave
The global economy has experienced numerous waves of automation that have transformed the labour market. During the 1990s and early 2000s, robots, computers, the internet and software designed to support everyday operations became increasingly widespread.
At that time, automation primarily affected routine manual work, repetitive activities and administrative or office-based tasks performed according to established procedures. Those most at risk of losing their jobs were workers with medium-level qualifications, including production workers, packers, some warehouse employees, people responsible for manually entering and calculating data, and certain administrative staff.
Artificial intelligence, however, is following a different automation pattern. AI is already affecting occupations based on cognitive and non-routine tasks, which are generally performed by more highly qualified and better-paid employees.
These include engineering and computational professions, where 29% of tasks are considered at risk, as well as occupations related to law, finance, creative work and content production, where the proportion stands at 27%. In managerial and administrative roles, the figure is 24%.[2] At the same time, jobs that require a person to be physically present in a particular location remain relatively secure.
Coface experts point out that the occupations most exposed to AI are also among the most important contributors to income generation, tax revenues and added value in developed economies. The consequences of this trend are therefore likely to extend beyond the labour market.
Should employment declines in these occupations not be offset by the creation of new jobs, labour income could come under pressure. At the same time, the productivity gains generated by artificial intelligence are likely to benefit the companies implementing the technology first.
The Polish Perspective
The United Kingdom and the Netherlands rank among the countries most exposed to automation. Poland is in fifth place, tied with Germany and Australia. The proportion of tasks exposed to automation in Poland stands at 17.5%.[3]
Coface’s research, based on an analysis of 923 occupations, indicates that approximately one in six jobs in Poland is currently exposed to AI-driven automation. The situation is similar to that observed in Western European countries, while also making Poland one of the most exposed economies in Central and Eastern Europe.
“Poland’s relatively high exposure to AI is primarily driven by the legal and financial services sectors, as well as administration and management. On the one hand, these sectors employ a significant proportion of the workforce. On the other, they are relatively susceptible to automation. At the same time, the substantial share of construction and industry in Poland’s employment structure limits the country’s overall exposure to AI technologies,” says Dr Mateusz Dadej, Chief Economist at Coface for Poland and the Central and Eastern European region.
“Although this employment structure may not appear particularly concerning compared with some Western economies, it raises important questions about Poland’s future economic development. Traditional sectors such as construction and industry, which currently reduce the country’s average exposure to AI, also have limited potential for further productivity growth. This is reflected in the stagnation observed in these sectors in recent years,” he adds.
The pace of AI adoption is also affecting the business services sector, which has expanded rapidly in recent years. Today, as the technological revolution driven by artificial intelligence continues to advance, the sector’s future prospects have become increasingly uncertain.
Three Perspectives on the Transformation
The effects of artificial intelligence are already visible not only among individual employees, but also across entire companies and the labour market as a whole. In each case, however, the transformation brings both opportunities and challenges.
For companies, implementing AI may lead to higher productivity, faster information processing and improved cost efficiency. At the same time, it requires organisations to redesign their processes and change how work is managed.
For employees, the gradual shift away from routine and operational tasks makes it increasingly important to develop digital competencies and the ability to work effectively with AI tools. This means that reskilling and lifelong learning will become more important, particularly in occupations that until recently were considered resistant to automation.
From an economic perspective, productivity gains are likely to coexist with periods of labour market tension, especially in sectors with high exposure to automation. The key question will be whether the efficiency improvements generated by AI adoption translate into the creation of new jobs and greater added value across the economy.
“In the longer term, the benefits of technological transformation will depend on how quickly companies, employees and the education system adapt. AI can become an important source of economic growth, but only if employees continuously adjust their skills to changing labour market conditions and companies reorganise their everyday operations,” concludes Dr Mateusz Dadej.
[1] The Next Automation Frontier: A Scenario Map of AI Labour Exposure, p. 3.
[2] Ibid., p. 2.
[3] Ibid., p. 8.
