Business
AI Will Not Eliminate Jobs Yet; Shift Will Demand Reskilling, New Roles: Morgan Stanley
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‘While some roles may be automated, others will see enhancement through AI augmentation, and other, entirely new roles will be created,’ the report says.
As AI adoption spreads across businesses, companies are expected to hire senior-level executives such as chief AI officers to oversee implementation across functions.
Amid rising concern that artificial intelligence (AI) could displace white-collar workers at scale, a report by Morgan Stanley offers a measured view, saying the technology is more likely to reshape work than eliminate it. Rather than triggering mass early retirement, the report notes that employees will need to reskill for roles that are still emerging, according to Fortune.
“While some roles may be automated, others will see enhancement through AI augmentation, and other, entirely new roles will be created,” the report highlighted.
The researchers draw on more than 150 years of technological change — from electrification to the internet — to argue that innovation historically transforms job profiles without fully replacing human labour. The report cites spreadsheets in the 1980s as an example: they reduced demand for some clerical tasks but enabled analysts to focus on complex work and led to new finance-sector professions.
As AI adoption spreads across businesses, companies are expected to hire senior-level executives such as chief AI officers to oversee implementation across functions. The report also projects a surge in governance-focused positions tied to data compliance, policy oversight and information security, especially in sensitive sectors like healthcare.
“There will also be a massive surge in AI governance roles focused on data compliance, policy oversight, and information security, particularly in sensitive sectors like health care,” the publication stated.
New job titles may also emerge across sectors. In consumer industries, roles such as AI personalisation strategists and AI supply-chain analysts could appear, while industrial firms may seek predictive maintenance engineers and smart-grid analysts. The rise of natural-language coding tools could also create hybrid IT roles, allowing product managers to directly prototype concepts before engineers complete technical execution.
Separate evidence suggests the short-term labour impact of AI remains limited. A National Bureau of Economic Research study surveying nearly 6,000 executives in the US, UK, Germany and Australia found that more than 90 per cent reported no change in employment levels over the past three years, and 89 per cent saw no productivity impact.
“On average, more than 90 per cent of business managers across the four countries estimate no impact of AI on their employment over the past three years. 89 per cent report no impact of AI on their labour productivity (measured as volume of sales per employee) over the last three years,” the study highlighted.
Even so, expectations for future gains remain strong. Executives surveyed expect AI to raise productivity by 1.4 per cent and output by 0.8 per cent over the next three years, while 75 per cent of firms anticipate using some form of AI technology within that period.
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February 28, 2026, 09:11 IST
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