Asked by: Lord Nagaraju (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for UK employment of the warning by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on 12 October about disruption from artificial intelligence; and what steps they are taking to support workers at risk of displacement and young people seeking entry-level jobs.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has established the AI Economics Institute to assess AI’s economic impacts and launched the AI taskforce to drive the Government’s overall strategy. Every UK adult is eligible for free AI upskilling through AI Skills Boost, with an ambition to upskill 10 million workers by 2030.
The Government is committed to ensuring that no young person is left behind. Through an additional £2.5 billion investment in the Youth Guarantee and Growth and Skills Levy by 2029, we will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn, including through expanded Youth Hubs, enhanced Jobcentre support, work experience and training opportunities, and targeted incentives for employers.
We are also supporting over 400,000 young people to obtain TechFirst AI training, alongside developing apprenticeship schemes and Jobs Guarantee AI placements, to help ensure young people can benefit from the opportunities created by AI.
We welcome the ambition of the British Retail Consortium to create 100,000 jobs for young people in the retail sector by 2029. This will be supported by Opening Shift, a joint DWP and BRC work experience programme that will provide 18 to 24-year-old jobseekers with retail work experience, workplace support and interview preparation.
We also welcome the commitment from major hospitality employers, including Whitbread, McDonald's, Nando's, Marriott, Compass, Burger King and Wagamama, to provide over 100,000 jobs for 18 to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training by the end of this Parliament. These opportunities will be supported by a hospitality training programme offering sector-specific experience, guaranteed interviews and a Hospitality Skills Passport.