Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to disrupt traditional career pathways, reduce demand for routine work, and expose major gaps in the Philippines’ readiness, according to experts and researchers during a webinar hosted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
The government think tank said the recent webinar underscored how artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming labor markets, creating new opportunities while also exposing workers and institutions to risks and disruptions that existing systems and policies may not yet fully capture.
During the discussions, speakers warned that while AI is creating new jobs and boosting productivity across industries, the academe and businesses may not be adapting quickly enough to protect workers from widening inequality and job displacement.
“The labor market is changing in three fundamental ways,” said Georgetown University in Qatar Professor Alexis Antoniades during his presentation, “AI, Skills, and the Future of (No) Work.” He pointed to growing skills mismatches, declining demand for routine work, and disruptions to traditional career pathways.
Drawing from an analysis of more than 1.5 billion job vacancies in the United States and China, Antoniades said occupations are increasingly converging around shared digital competencies such as programming, data analysis, and data visualization.
“Soft skills are becoming more important…But skill-based training is not necessarily the one we teach students at the university,” he said, noting that companies are shifting from degree-based hiring toward skills-based recruitment.
At the same time, Antoniades warned that AI may weaken the traditional pipeline through which workers gain experience and move up professionally.
“AI has disrupted the pipeline where you start from low…you learn, gain experience, and start moving up,” he said. “How are we going to end up with senior lawyers… or experienced finance professionals if [we are] not hiring entry-level[s]?”
He cautioned that AI-driven productivity gains may increasingly benefit those who control advanced technologies while leaving many workers struggling to keep pace.
“We would be lucky if we even know the right questions to ask,” Antoniades said, emphasizing the speed at which AI technologies are evolving.
LGUs readiness
In the Philippine context, researchers highlighted uneven institutional readiness for AI adoption, particularly among local government units (LGUs).
Presenting the PIDS study, “How Ready Are LGUs for AI Adoption?”, PIDS Senior Research Fellow Francis Mark Quimba said the country’s AI sector is projected to grow from USD772 million in 2024 to USD3.4 billion by 2030. However, he noted that many LGUs remain constrained by weak infrastructure, limited technical capacity, and inadequate digital investment.
The study found that most LGUs demonstrate only low to moderate readiness for AI adoption, with major gaps in digital infrastructure, ICT staffing, governance systems, and long-term planning.
“AI policy adoption in ASEAN has lagged significantly behind OECD countries, and within the Philippines, internet access is also a concern,” Quimba said.
Quimba said the country’s readiness divide is also reflected geographically, with the National Capital Region performing significantly better than several regions that continue to struggle with connectivity and institutional limitations.
“The intent is there, but the implementation and budget allocation are not,” he said, referring to the gap between digitalization plans and actual investments in AI-related capabilities.
The webinar also examined how AI is already reshaping workplace practices across Philippine industries.
Based on the Department of Labor and Employment – Institute for Labor Studies (DOLE-ILS) study “Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the Labor Market,” Senior Labor and Employment Officer Chelsea Nicole Pineda said AI adoption is becoming increasingly common in the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM), manufacturing, and banking and finance sectors.
Companies primarily use AI to improve productivity, automate repetitive tasks, strengthen fraud detection systems, and streamline recruitment and customer service operations.
However, Pineda said workers continue to express concerns about job security, mental health, changes in workload, and the ethical use of AI systems in the workplace.
“Because of AI adoption, [workers] feel their workload has increased,” she explained, noting that some employees now spend additional time verifying AI-generated outputs and checking for errors.
Although only six percent of surveyed firms reported workforce reductions linked to AI adoption, concerns about displacement remain widespread among workers, particularly in sectors exposed to automation.
At the same time, the study identified rising demand for AI-related occupations, including data analysts, AI engineers, machine learning specialists, and prompt engineers.
Pineda emphasized that AI systems must remain human-centered despite increasing workplace integration.
“AI must be designed to respect the fundamental human rights and should complement human work and not replace individual workers within enterprises,” she said.
Speakers also underscored the growing importance of education and workforce training in preparing Filipinos for AI-driven labor markets.
Antoniades said soft skills such as communication, critical thinking, and creativity may become even more valuable as technical barriers continue to fall.
“If you use AI just to give you the answer to a problem and you just paste it, you will be the first to become obsolete in the labor market,” he said. “The advantage will belong to those who can think and use AI to build.”
