ezwin ‘5 million Pinoys may lose jobs to AI’

MANILA, Philippines — Around five million Filipinos nationwide could lose their jobs this year due to the impact of artificial intelligence and climate change on local industries, labor group Federation of Free Workers (FFW) reported yesterday.

Employment to be generated by the coming elections in May could not offset the projected job losses in different sectors, particularly the agriculture sector, FFW chair Sonny Matula said.

“By mid to end of the first quarter, extreme weather is expected to wreak havoc and destroy crops. This will result in the displacement of workers in the agriculture sector,” FFW vice president Julius Cainglet warned.

Job losses are also expected in the business process outsourcing and manufacturing sectors as AI becomes mainstream in business operations, he noted.

Citing the International Monetary Fund, Cainglet said up to 14 percent of the country’s workforce is at risk of being replaced by AI.

In 2024, about 2.3 million Filipinos lost their jobs following successive tropical cyclones, he noted.

“The Philippines will not return to ICC. Based on this, the president is not expected to change his mind and now refer the quadcom matter to the ICC,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a message to reporters. 

“It is almost certain that super typhoons will hit the country again and result in the same job losses, adding to risks to employment posed by heat stress by the end of the first quarter,” Cainglet said.

Direct foreign investments did not help in job creation last year, the group said.

Foreign investors are reluctant to establish businesses in the country due to the high cost of electricity compared to neighboring countries, Matula said.

The government, he said, refused to allocate a higher budget to the agriculture sector to generate employment.

Women workers are likely to be severely affected by job lossesezwin, the FFW said.