‘It’s really kicked us down’: U.K. workers’ jobs being squeezed out by AI

The IMF estimated in 2024 that more than two-thirds of British workers perform tasks that AI could potentially carry out. Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

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LONDON — When a client asked her a year ago to design a glossary to train an artificial intelligence system, translator Jessica Spengler realized she was going to train her own replacement.

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“That was the day I really thought… my job is going,” said the 52-year-old, who translates into English for German educational and historical organizations.

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In the U.K., where services account for around 80 per cent of the economy, AI has become flexible, fast and inexpensive competition for many white-collar workers, with the impacts beginning to emerge.

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The IMF estimated in 2024 that more than two-thirds of British workers perform tasks that AI could potentially carry out, making the country more exposed than many other advanced economies.

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“Some publishers have offered me lower rates than I was getting 10 years ago,” the Brighton-based Spengler told AFP, adding that she no longer receives requests to translate corporate press releases or user manuals, typically an “entry point” into the profession.

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Instead, she is increasingly offered work proofreading machine-generated translations.

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Translators “have to rewrite the whole thing, redo the translations, but they still only get paid the reduced rate,” said Holly Parsons, a Spanish-to-English translator at the beginning of her career.

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“It’s hard as a translator to actually charge what the work is worth because people just don’t want to pay it,” the 24-year-old added.

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She still earns most of her income working as a children’s activity leader.

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According to a report from Morgan Stanley, British companies that adopted AI cut their workforces by eight percent in the year to October 2025 — more than in Germany, Japan or Australia.

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Among the countries featured in the report, only the United States saw employment rise with AI.

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“Film work has definitely been impacted by AI… it’s really kicked us down,” said Laura, 35, a director of photography in London, who preferred not to share her last name for professional reasons.

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To escape the broader crisis hitting the film industry, she is retraining as an outdoor instructor in Dorset, southwest England, earning minimum wage.

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After working on the short film “Mad Bills to Pay”, which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival, 35-year-old Rufai Ajala also changed direction and is now training to become a plumber.

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“I’m not going to rely on film as my main focus… I don’t see it as a career option anymore where you can have stability,” Ajala said, adding that the aim was to find an “AI-proof” career.

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“There is going to be sort of a painful transition process because new jobs will take time to emerge,” said Bouke Klein Teeselink, an economics professor at King’s College London.

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He said it would require “a massive adjustment for society,” which could mean “a big increase in unemployment.”