AI adoption has reached 15-20% across major developed economies, according to Goldman Sachs Research. The report identifies France, the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as being at the upper end of this adoption range. This significant penetration is reshaping hiring patterns across technology-intensive sectors, with companies reassessing their workforce requirements as AI capabilities become more widespread. The research found that major developed economies deployed artificial intelligence faster than other nations, while major emerging markets recorded adoption rates between 10% to 15%, creating a substantial gap in AI implementation between developed and developing economies.
The AI adoption wave is particularly affecting technology, call centres, software and advertising sectors, where hiring growth has slowed significantly. As reported by Goldman Sachs, this trend reflects the fundamental shift in how companies are approaching workforce planning as AI systems become more sophisticated and capable of handling traditional human roles. The report indicates that industries with greater exposure to automation witnessed a slowdown in job openings starting from the second half of 2022, with the trend appearing most pronounced in Germany, Australia, and the US. "This cross-industry result confirms our prior finding that the onset of generative AI tools may have led companies in highly exposed industries to re-evaluate their hiring plans," the report stated. Employment growth slowed notably across information and communication services, call centres, software publishing, and advertising, with the US experiencing particularly pronounced impacts as headcount across information and communication services dropped below its long-run trend.
The impact on call centres has been particularly pronounced, with US call-centre jobs 39% below trend according to Goldman Sachs data. Junior workers in this sector are experiencing the most significant exposure to AI-driven job displacement, as companies increasingly turn to AI-powered customer service solutions. The contraction appeared marked across specialized subsectors, with call centre employment declining 33% below trend in Canada and 27% below trend in Germany. This represents one of the most visible examples of AI adoption's impact on traditional service sector employment, confirming that AI-employment headwinds are visible in industries where labor-automating tools are already available. "These patterns confirm that, like in the US, AI-employment headwinds are visible in industries where labor-automating tools are already available," the report observed.
The rapid AI adoption is creating significant infrastructure and energy challenges as data centre requirements surge. As noted in recent discussions, the tension between AI benefits and public perception is particularly acute, with consumers resisting data centre development at the end of their gardens. The pushback on data centre development is creating real delays in projects across the US, driven by concerns about land use, water impacts, and electricity consumption that might otherwise power businesses or homes. The challenge lies in balancing local disruption with national AI development needs, as the most advanced AI requires specialized locations with geothermal energy or cooler climates, while inference models need proximity to cities for quick response times. Power constraints are becoming a critical bottleneck, with the UK facing particular challenges as commodities become more constrained and nationalization trends drive security concerns across global economies.
