Half of UK employers would happily make staff redundant for AI

Half of UK employers say making staff redundant because of AI would be a straightforward or positive step for their organisation.

The finding comes from a new tracker by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, with fieldwork conducted by Opinium between 20 and 29 April 2026.

The research surveyed 506 senior decision-makers at UK businesses with 11 or more employees, sampled to ensure broad representation across business size, sector and region.

It sits alongside parallel surveys of 2,000 UK adults, 1,002 young people aged 16 to 29 and 1,000 university students.

Asked how they would approach a decision to cut staff because AI tools meant their organisation needed fewer of them, 30% of employers said they would see it as a straightforward business decision and 20% said they would see it as a positive step for the organisation’s efficiency.

That leaves 50% who would view AI-driven redundancies as either neutral or beneficial.

Just 17% said they would find it a very difficult decision and try to avoid redundancies, while 28% would find it uncomfortable but accept it if necessary for the business. A further 5% said they did not know.

The findings sit alongside evidence that AI-driven cuts are already underway. One in five (22%) employers have already made roles redundant or reduced hiring specifically because of AI, rising to 29% among organisations with 250 to 999 staff.

A third (33%) of those who have cut headcount say it has improved efficiency with no significant downsides, while another 32% say efficiency gains have come alongside new problems such as skills gaps, lower morale or loss of institutional knowledge.

Employers are also markedly more willing than workers to see staff replaced. While 14% of employers are very worried about jobs in their organisation being replaced by AI and 31% somewhat worried, 54% are not very or not at all worried.

Among workers, 16% are very worried about their own job being replaced, rising to 19% among graduate workers. Graduate workers are notably more anxious overall, with 45% saying they are worried, compared with 34% of non-graduates.

A wider economic question

Almost half (47%) of employers say the country should encourage businesses to adopt AI to boost economic growth, even if this means some jobs are lost or changed, compared with just 22% of the general public.

A majority of the public (53%) said protecting jobs and working conditions should take priority, even if this means AI is adopted more slowly and economic growth is weaker.

Two in five (43%) employers also say companies should be free to adopt AI without extra taxes, even if some workers lose out, double the 21% of the general public who agree.

Across all public groups, support for an AI retraining tax sits above 50%, with 53% of the general public, 53% of workers, 53% of young people and 55% of university students backing the idea.

Despite the appetite for redundancies, employers are far more likely than workers to expect AI to assist rather than replace staff.

When asked about AI’s impact on jobs in their own organisation in five years’ time, 49% of employers said AI would mainly be assisting workers and 23% said it would mainly be replacing them.

Among the general public, 47% expect AI to be mainly replacing workers in five years and just 18% expect it to be mainly assisting them, the inverse of the employer picture.

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