Teresa Lim, one of Australia’s most recognisable voices, fears her 23-year career is under threat from artificial intelligence. For decades, Lim has been the voice behind countless radio and television advertisements, promoting products ranging from baby formula to Test cricket broadcasts. However, the increasing sophistication of AI voice cloning technology has led to growing anxiety about potential job displacement.
Lim’s concerns are echoed across the Australian workforce, with AI already linked to over 1,000 job cuts in recent months. Tech giant Atlassian announced on Thursday the elimination of 500 positions in Australia as part of a broader global reduction of 1,600 roles. The company’s CEO, Mike Cannon-Brookes, stated in a letter to staff that while AI wasn’t directly “replacing people,” it was undeniably altering the required skillset and the number of roles needed.
The potential for AI to replicate an individual’s voice with minimal data – as little as a 15-second clip – is a key concern. “This proves terrifying not just for voice actors, but for the general Australian public, because currently we have no legislation in place that makes that illegal,” Lim said.
Beyond the creative industries, significant job losses have been reported at several major Australian companies. Block, the owner of Afterpay, cut 4,000 jobs globally, including approximately 700 in Australia. Software company Wisetech reduced its workforce by 2,000. These cuts have prompted debate about the extent to which AI is a driving factor, with some analysts suggesting it is being used as justification for broader cost-cutting measures.
Wisetech’s chief executive, Zubin Appoo, explicitly connected the job cuts to advancements in AI, stating that “the era of manually writing code as a core act of engineering is over.” Retrenched Block employees questioned the viability of replacing their work with AI, citing investor pressure and a 35% drop in the company’s share price since October. Wisetech, whose share price had halved in the previous six months, experienced a rebound after announcing the job cuts, as did Block, rising 20% and 11% respectively. Atlassian’s share price, however, continued to decline following its announcement.
Telstra also recently eliminated 200 positions within its AI joint venture with Accenture. While CEO Vicky Brady maintained that no roles had been “directly taken” by AI, she acknowledged the technology’s contribution to overall efficiency gains.
Industry analysts offer differing perspectives on the extent of AI’s impact. Neal Woolrich, a human resources advisor at Gartner, expressed skepticism about attributing all job cuts solely to AI. “I think there’s a lot of use of AI as cover for other things that are going on in the organisation,” he said. Gartner’s economic modelling indicated that only 1% of job cuts last year were directly attributable to AI-driven productivity gains.
Lochlan Halloway, an analyst at Morningstar, noted that implementing AI systems can involve significant upfront costs and cautioned against overstating the benefits. “Companies are very keen to talk up the benefits of AI because it is the buzzword … but it’s not a lot of concrete evidence yet,” he said. Morningstar has begun utilizing AI for data gathering tasks previously handled by entry-level analysts, but Halloway emphasized that this has not resulted in a reduction in junior headcount.
Despite concerns about widespread job displacement, some sectors remain resilient. Recruitment agency Randstad reported continued hiring in call centres, despite expectations that these roles would be readily automated. According to research by the Reserve Bank of Australia, almost one in three Australian businesses are now using AI for advanced tasks, such as demand forecasting and inventory management. A Randstad survey also revealed that nearly one in three Australians believe their job is at risk of being eliminated by AI.
In the United States, hiring for entry-level positions in finance, computing, sales, and office administration has already begun to unhurried, according to Anthropic, the creators of the AI assistant Claude. Australian companies have reported similar trends to Morgan Stanley researchers, particularly in the shedding of junior staff. Analysis by the National Australia Bank suggests that the unemployment rate for white-collar workers has recently begun to rise faster than that for blue-collar workers, whereas the latter remains higher overall.
Taylor Nugent, a senior economist at NAB, noted a weakening in demand for technical, professional, and managerial jobs, but did not attribute this directly to AI, stating that current technology could potentially perform a large share of the tasks associated with those roles, potentially reducing future demand.
Despite the evolving job market, undergraduate enrollment in fields such as finance, law, and computer science remains stable. La Trobe University’s vice-chancellor, Prof Theo Farrell, reported that students are increasingly seeking guidance on how to integrate technology into their future careers. However, recruiters indicate that conditions for graduates are becoming more challenging, particularly for smaller firms in consulting and marketing, which are increasingly utilizing AI for tasks previously assigned to interns.
Alisdair Barr, CEO of job platform Striver, observed that finance graduates are shifting their focus towards human-facing roles, such as financial advice, which are less susceptible to AI disruption. “They’re going, ‘well, how do I use my finance degree and what are my other options?’” he said. “The ones that seem to be clearly still available are the ones that involve a human at the end of it.”
