As artificial intelligence reshapes workforces across the globe, a new analysis of Jamaica’s labor market reveals a stark inequity: women are positioned to bear the brunt of AI-powered automation, even as demand grows for workers who can leverage the technology strategically. The research, led by former University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) dean Professor Paul Golding, applies standardized methodology from the International Labour Organization (ILO) to local labor data to map AI’s uneven impact across different roles and demographic groups.
Golding’s framework separates two core forms of AI disruption: job augmentation, where the technology supports rather than replaces human workers, and job elimination, where AI can take over most or all routine tasks once performed by people. The analysis finds that roughly 22% of Jamaica’s total workforce — around 256,000 workers — face some level of AI exposure in their roles. Of that group, an estimated 60,000 jobs are at high risk of full elimination.
The data paints a particularly concerning picture for women. Of the 256,000 exposed jobs, 144,000 are held by women, compared to 112,000 held by men. This imbalance stems from the overrepresentation of women in routine, rules-based roles that are most susceptible to automation: call center agents, data entry clerks, typists, secretaries, bank tellers and entry-level accounting positions top the list of high-risk roles. Compounding this risk is the fact that 44% of Jamaican households are led by women, meaning widespread job displacement among women could have ripple effects across the country’s economy and household financial stability. “If anything that does not have task complexity in it, it is likely to be completely eliminated,” Golding explained in an interview with Jamaica Observer.
Not all occupations face the same level of risk, however. Roles that require high task complexity, specialized expertise, or interpersonal human judgment see far lower automation risk, Golding notes. These include science and engineering professionals, healthcare workers, ICT specialists, agricultural and forestry workers, machine operators and most forms of manual labor. Even cleaning and hospitality roles, which rely on adaptive human interaction, remain relatively insulated from AI displacement for now. Golding does add one caveat: while the ILO classifies teaching as low-exposure, he remains personally uncertain about how AI will reshape educational roles in the coming years.
Even with these stable sectors, Golding warns that predicting AI’s long-term impact on employment remains fraught with uncertainty. Drawing parallels to historical industrial revolutions, he notes that past waves of innovation ultimately created new job categories to offset those lost to automation — but that pattern may not hold with the current AI boom. Unlike earlier technological shifts, “what we’re not seeing with AI is new work being developed. What we’re seeing primarily is the replacement,” he says. He also cautions that job losses and new job creation are unlikely to progress at the same pace, leaving many workers facing long periods of unemployment before new opportunities emerge.
As the labor market adapts, industry leaders say the most valuable skill for workers is no longer proficiency in a specific trade — but fluency in working alongside AI. “We’re looking for persons who can work alongside the AI from the perspective of being able to know when to use AI, when not to use AI, when and how to evaluate the results that AI is putting out and be able to demonstrate that confidence to hold yourself to account for the results,” explained Hugh Thompson, Director of Consulting Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Jamaica.
This shifting demand for AI-competent workers is forcing a reckoning for tertiary education institutions across Jamaica. PwC research conducted with UTech found that nearly all tertiary students already use AI tools for their studies, and more than 93% of users have never faced consequences for improper use or are unconcerned about being caught. But Thompson argues that the biggest risk of widespread student AI use is not academic cheating — it is the gradual erosion of the critical thinking and judgment skills that employers prioritize above all else.
“The real risk is not cheating. The real risk is the erosion of the critical thinking that students are supposed to be displaying when you go for your degree because that’s what employers are looking for,” Thompson said. To address this gap, he is calling on universities to overhaul their assessment frameworks, develop clear AI use policies, and train anxious faculty members to adapt their teaching for an AI-integrated world. Just as institutions already treat numeracy, writing and critical thinking as core graduate skills, Thompson argues AI fluency should become a mandatory competency for all graduates entering the workforce. “Coming into a workplace with AI fluency puts you a cut above the rest of the persons who might not be as fluent with AI,” he added.
