Will AI take away jobs?

From Nepal to California, there is only one question - will artificial intelligence (AI) take away jobs? The clear answer is yes, but not AI. People who know AI will take away the jobs of those who don't.

The real threat to Nepal is not AI—the real threat is sticking to old skills even in the age of AI. For those who weaponize AI, this is an era of opportunity. For those who turn a blind eye, this could be a time of displacement.

The question is not “Will AI take your job?” The question is—“Am I ready to move forward with AI?” Let’s take an example, a person working at a software company was also working as a content writer until last year. His work, which consisted of writing blog posts, product descriptions, and marketing copy all day, suddenly halved—after the company started using generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Cloud, his work and income decreased along with it. The work of five writers before was no longer enough for two people who knew AI.

This is not just the story of one person, it is the beginning of an era, the era of AI. Work has become much easier due to AI. Work that used to take hours is now done in minutes. Work that used to take five people can now be done by one person. Complex problems can now be solved easily. AI has emerged as a revolutionary technology to make life easier.

What is happening around the world?

The World Economic Forum estimates that 92 million jobs will be displaced by 2030. According to the forum's 2025 'Future of Jobs Report', 41 percent of employers worldwide plan to reduce their workforces due to AI automation in the next five years. They won't wait five years because the change is already happening.

In the first six months of 2025 alone, 77,999 technology-related jobs were lost. According to Goldman Sachs, AI could affect 300 million jobs worldwide, which is 9.1 percent of total global employment.

What jobs are most at risk?

According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania/Open AI, highly educated white-collar jobs that earn up to $80,000 a year are most at risk of automation. Repetitive and rule-based jobs are at risk due to the increasing use of AI. Jobs in data entry, call centers, customer service, content writing, translation, repetitive tasks in industry, graphic design, software programming, and accounting are at risk.

According to a study, 54 percent of jobs in banking are at high risk of being automated by AI. Paralegals in the legal sector are expected to face 80 percent of the risk by 2026. In the healthcare sector, medical transcription has been automated. Bloomberg research says that AI could replace 53 percent of the jobs of market research analysts and 67 percent of sales representatives. According to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, AI is now taking over half of the company's work. That's why he has cut more than 4,000 customer service employees. The company has replaced hundreds of human resources roles with AI chatbots.

Unemployment among young people in their 20s and 30s working in AI-impacted sectors has risen by nearly three percentage points since the beginning of 2025. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, has made a stark prediction that AI could eliminate half of the white-collar jobs considered entry-level intellectuals within five years.

AI increases jobs

For an unbiased analysis, it is important to look at this aspect as well. According to experts, AI will create more jobs than it will lose. According to the World Economic Forum, 92 million jobs will be displaced by 2030, but 170 million new jobs will be created due to AI. There could be a net increase of 78 million jobs worldwide, meaning that the overall market impact of AI could be positive. Demand for AI engineer roles is increasing by more than 140 percent.

The Industrial Revolution displaced mill workers, but it also created more industries and more jobs. We have seen that the computer revolution in the 1970s displaced many jobs and created more jobs than it did. In the space of 30 years, computers have become a part of everyday life. It is projected that 2.3 million new AI-related jobs will be created in India alone by 2027. So the AI ​​revolution is likely to create more jobs than it displaces.

According to a study, professionals with AI skills earn up to 56 percent more than their peers in the same role who do not have the skills. This statistic sends a clear message that learning AI is more beneficial than trying to fight AI. An unprecedented opportunity has opened up for Nepali freelancers; with the right tools, a developer in Biratnagar or a digital marketer in Pokhara can compete for higher salaries in the US or Europe and bring in foreign currency for Nepal.

What is the situation in Nepal?

This question affects Nepal in a different way. Since our economy is based on agriculture, tourism, and remittances, the direct threat may not be felt immediately, but the indirect impact will be profound. More than 60 percent of Nepal’s workforce is in agriculture or manual labor, which limits the immediate exposure to AI-induced risks. But without strong digital skills and capabilities, Nepal could fall behind in the high-value global economy.

Full-time regular jobs in Nepal have declined sharply, while outsourced and contract work has increased significantly. Nepal’s BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sector is particularly vulnerable. Nepal’s economy is heavily dependent on the service sector, BOP, and administrative roles—these are the sectors most suited to automation.

In Nepal, the government has declared 2024-2034 as the Information Technology Decade. It aims to create 1.5 million new technology jobs and export IT services worth 3 trillion Nepalese rupees within the decade. This is an ambitious goal, but for this, AI should be seen as an opportunity, not a challenge.

What is the government doing?

The Government of Nepal has officially approved the National AI Policy 2082. This is a significant milestone in the country’s digital transformation journey, albeit belatedly. The policy envisions the strategic integration of AI in the health, education, agriculture and public administration sectors. The Government of Nepal has implemented a new policy on AI with the aim of preparing at least 5,000 human resources in the AI ​​sector within five years. The policy has adopted a strategy to establish an AI Regulatory Council in Nepal to guide the research, development and application of AI in a manner that is consistent with international fundamental principles and practices.

The policy, along with a commitment to maximize the use of AI in the economic and social sectors, mentions that Nepal will be ranked among the top 50 in the global AI Readiness Index. The policy also mentions establishing a mechanism to manage potential job losses due to AI and address its social and economic consequences. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has said that AI will provide both opportunities and challenges to Nepal's development. The UNDP has emphasized that AI needs to be developed in a human-centric and capacity-enhancing direction rather than automating it. Overall, it can be said that AI will create more jobs than before, rather than taking away jobs. It eliminates repetitive, mechanical tasks, but it cannot replace human creativity, empathy, and complex decision-making.