Government links AI skills push to future of work planning

Alongside its expansion of free AI foundations training, the UK government has taken a further step to address how artificial intelligence may affect jobs and the wider labour market.

Ministers confirmed the creation of a new AI and the Future of Work Unit. Its role is to monitor AI’s economic and employment impacts and to advise government on when intervention may be needed. An expert panel drawn from business, academia, civil society and trade unions will support its work.

AI adoption risks uneven effects if workforce change is not anticipated. Previous technology shifts showed how skills gaps and job displacement widened when policy followed too late, rather than shaping change as it happened.

Government language around the unit focuses on preparation rather than reaction. The emphasis is on understanding how jobs and tasks may change, supporting workers to adapt and avoiding the social and economic disruption seen in earlier periods of industrial change.

Trade unions have been given a place alongside employer groups and economists. Worker voice, job quality and transition are now part of the discussion, not something left to follow later.

From a learning perspective, this connects AI skills to workforce change rather than treating them as a standalone training issue. Training alone is not being presented as a solution. Attention is also being directed towards job design, progression and how people move between roles as AI becomes more embedded in day-to-day work.

The new unit sits alongside the government’s wider skills and industrial strategy programmes. AI capability is being handled as a labour market issue, not just a technology one.

The immediate policy focus remains on expanding access to basic AI skills. But the creation of a dedicated future of work function signals an expectation that deeper change is coming.

The creation of the unit suggests that learning is being treated less as a response to disruption and more as an early intervention. For L&D leaders, that raises a familiar question in a new context: whether organisations are prepared to invest in skills before change becomes unavoidable, rather than after it has already taken hold.

Key facts

• Government has set up a new AI and the Future of Work Unit.
• The unit will monitor AI’s impact on jobs and the labour market.
• It will advise on when government should intervene, not just respond later.
• An expert panel will include business, unions, academics and civil society.
• Trade unions have been given a formal role in AI workforce planning.
• AI skills are being linked to wider labour market policy, not treated as a standalone tech issue.

More on the UK Government’s AI training announcement

Government expands AI training to reach 10 million UK workers
Government-backed AI benchmarks raise new questions for corporate learning
Government turns to skills to tackle low AI adoption among SMEs