AI Expected to Impact a Variety of Skills in Workforce
AUG. 27, 2025…..As Massachusetts business and technology leaders hashed out strategies Wednesday to strengthen the state’s competitive edge in artificial intelligence and tackle emerging skills gaps, the House chair of the advanced information and technology committee urged industry players to focus on privacy protections.
More than half of the individual skills considered core parts of the top 15 job types “could face moderate-to-high disruption from AI,” according to a report from the Massachusetts High Technology Council and the Boston Consulting Group that was spotlighted during a virtual briefing.
The most acute impacts could occur in structured jobs with repetitive routines, including office clerks and accountants, “where 40–50% of core skills are at risk of high-to-complete disruption as GenAI automates tasks like scheduling, recordkeeping, invoicing and compliance checks,” the report says. The report discusses how traditional jobs are being “redefined” by AI, including health care professionals who can use AI to flag clinical risks, educators who are are using analytics to personalize instruction, and financial analysts using generative AI to detect fraud.
Employers are increasingly recruiting workers for “bilingual roles,” which involves AI fluency in areas like AI models, AI-based automation and AI-assisted learning tools. But the report shows Massachusetts has a “retention problem,” with only 40% of AI-trained graduates staying here, compared to 80% in New York and California, said Anna Senko, project leader at BCG.
“We also know that peer states are really investing quite aggressively in AI infrastructure and workforce pipelines as well, which will increase that competition for talent,” Senko said. “So we’re at a crossroads here in Massachusetts, and it isn’t about adopting AI for AI’s sake, but really making sure that AI strengthens Massachusetts’ competitive advantage, especially in some of our top industries.”
The report recommends the commonwealth invest in the talent pipeline from K-12 classrooms to mid-career reskilling; bolster shared AI infrastructure and strategic partnerships; compete for federal AI dollars; and deploy grants, tax incentives and other tools to businesses. Ahead of the start of the school year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education last week released guidance on using AI responsibly in schools, including in ways that are safe and ethical.
The 2024 economic development law allocated $100 million for the Massachusetts AI Hub. Since launching, the hub has trained teachers in using AI, taught high school students how to use Python programming language, awarded grants in sectors like health care and manufacturing, and organized workforce development programs, said Director Sabrina Mansur.
In New York, Empire AI is supported by more than $500 million in public and private funding. Connecticut and New Jersey are also launching AI hubs with smaller investments, according to the report.
“We need to move at the speed of AI in business because we’re not competing sufficiently with peer states, even though we have, I think, the best mix of resources of any commonwealth or any state,” Chris Anderson, MHTC’s president, said. “And therefore, we need to help push government partners to join us, to be responsive in the right areas at the right time where it makes sense.”
During a question-and-answer segment, Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier chimed in and asked how MHTC and its business partners, BCG and the state’s AI hub are pursuing “commonsense” privacy protections for workers and students. Farley-Bouvier co-chairs the Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity.
“Industry seems to be digging in on offense, and the only people speaking on values and protections are, let’s say, the good government people in the Legislature,” the Pittsfield Democrat said.
“And I feel like that dynamic is not going to work out well,” Farley-Bouvier added, as she called on government and industry to work together.
Anderson told her that “policies are being developed.”
“I know you’re considering some yourself, and we look forward to making sure that these are all responsibly managed,” Anderson said. “Privacy issues have been cropping up with a whole bunch of policy topics over the years, but AI does accelerate the importance of this topic. We look forward to working with you on that.”
The Massachusetts AFL-CIO last week sought to build support for proposals from Farley-Bouvier and Sen. Dylan Fernandes (H 77 / S 35) to install AI safeguards for workers. The bills, which are awaiting a hearing before the AITIC Committee, would restrict employee data surveillance, give employees the right to refuse AI system directives without fear of retaliation, and prevent employers from solely relying on automated decision systems to make employment-related decisions.
“Employers are increasingly using new technologies that rely on AI and machine learning to hire, discipline, monitor, promote, and fire workers,” the AFL-CIO wrote in an email to supporters. “At the same time, employers have started incorporating these technologies into the regular job responsibilities and expectations of their employees.”
MITRE, a Bedford-based not-for-profit that runs federally funded research and development centers, is working on creating a forecasting tool that will offer additional insights into emerging AI skill needs. Evaluating the semiconductor manufacturing industry and adjacent sectors, MITRE has modeled growing demand for AI skills, including for AI development and AI systems automation, said Diana Gehlhaus, federal policy strategist at MITRE.
The report from MHTC and BCG shows that a variety of jobs are slated to experience AI disruptions. While clerks and accountants may see the biggest impact, even cashiers, retail salespeople, registered nurses, waiters, fast food workers, and janitors and cleaners will deal with moderate or slight disruptions.
“It might be a little bit unintuitive at first to imagine the impact of AI on a role like a janitor or cleaner, for example,” BCG consultant Trula Rael said. “If you think about buildings becoming smarter, predictive maintenance schedules, space use tracking and even autonomous cleaning pods, it’s easy to see how the responsibilities and ways of working a janitor role would fundamentally shift.”
As automated alcohol kiosks with self-check out counters become popular at large sporting venues, the issue has partly spilled into monthslong contract negotiations between Aramark and union workers at Fenway Park and MGM Music Hall, according to UNITE HERE Local 26. In July, Aramark workers at Fenway and MGM went on a three-day strike, as they aim to boost their hourly wages and end automated concession sales, which “many believe” could replace workers with machines, the union said.
Aramark workers attended the Boston City Council meeting Wednesday to show their support for a Councilor Sharon Durkan resolution that supports food and beverage workers at Fenway. The resolution says workers are “increasingly being reassigned or replaced because of automated machines” and calls for that practice to end.
