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Nearly half of Canadian CEOs who participated in a recent survey believe artificial intelligence will allow their companies to meet their growth goals with fewer workers on the payroll.
EY-Parthenon, a division of the global accounting firm EY, polled 50 Canadian business leaders from large companies for its latest Canada CEO Outlook survey. The results show some executives are eyeing smaller, more productive workforces with the help of AI.
According to the survey, 46 per cent of the CEOs polled believe many companies will reach their long-term growth targets with “a smaller workforce than they have today.”
“As productivity gains begin to materialize, I’m seeing the conversation shift from efficiency to value,” Shane Dunn, managing partner at EY-Parthenon Canada, stated in the report published on Wednesday.
“An overwhelming majority of Canadian CEOs indicate they can measurably demonstrate a return from AI investments, with the primary productivity measure being higher output without additional headcount or capital,” he added.
EY said most participants in the poll head publicly traded companies with annual sales over $1 billion US. Nearly a quarter reported annual revenue between $10 billion US and $49.9 billion US. Their businesses span a wide range of sectors — from consumer goods, to finance, and health care.
The results were collected in August and September, EY said.
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The findings follow a slew of AI-related layoff announcements in recent days.
On Monday, Microsoft announced it is offering voluntary buyouts to 60,000 members of its 223,000-strong global workforce. The tech giant framed the decision as a move to contain costs and help fund its massive AI investments.
Microsoft declined to tell CBC News how many Canadians were offered the buyout.
Last week, British financial giant Barclays announced plans to cut roughly 5,000 jobs this year — about five per cent of its workforce — as the bank embraces AI in a bid to slash costs and boost returns.
Canada has yet to see AI-linked layoffs announced at the same scale, but that’s not to say job cuts aren’t happening.
For example, Toronto-based biomedical tech company BenchSci explicitly cited AI as the driving factor behind more than 200 layoffs at the company beginning in 2024 and extending into this year.
Threat of ‘AI job apocalypse’ may be overblown
It’s still too early to judge AI’s impact on the labour market, says Viet Vu, manager of economic research at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Dais think-tank.
“We really don’t see a negative labour market impact for any segment of the population that we can attribute to AI, and that includes the young people,” Vu, who studies the intersection of technology, automation and work, told CBC News on Tuesday.
“Where I think the fear lies is in the future.”
That’s reflected in the EY survey, which showed that 82 per cent of respondents see AI having a greater impact on employee roles, skills and workplace organization than on actual workforce size over the next three years.
Vu says the jobs most insulated from AI disruption are in construction and the trades. He recommends office and white-collar workers be prepared to adopt new skills.
According to TD Economics, widespread job losses due to artificial intelligence are unlikely. In a report earlier this month, senior economist Thomas Feltmate predicted a gradual adjustment in the job market rather than a sudden shock.
“The AI job apocalypse remains a risk scenario, not the base case,” he wrote.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform a substantial share of workplace tasks, but task exposure should not be confused with outright job losses. Jobs are collections of tasks that require different skills, levels of judgment, and forms of expertise.”