Women's jobs face a greater AI threat than men's, says UN report

NEW DELHI: A new UN report, "Gender Snapshot 2025", has cautioned that emerging data shows nearly 28% of jobs for women globally are at risk from artificial intelligence compared to 21% of men's jobs. Noting the digital future could also be a great equaliser, it calls for urgent measures to bridge the "gender digital divide".

The report also highlights existing disparities, with women accounting for just about 29% of the global tech workforce and just 14% of tech leaders. The report cites 2025 to be pivotal in the timeline, as just five years remain before the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development deadline. It tracks the progress towards achieving gender equality across the Sustainable Development Goals.



The report warns the world faces a new disruption and there's a risk of inequality being coded into the future "if we do not learn from past mistakes", and calls for measures to bridge the gender digital divide. "It could benefit 343 million women and girls, lift 30 million out of extreme poverty, improve food security for 42 million, and spark $1.5 trillion in global growth by 2030," it highlights.

To ensure gains made over the decades in increasing women participation in the labour force are not lost to a divide in access to knowledge on technology and AI, the report calls for investing in women's digital and technical skills, facilitating transitions in different economic sectors and implementing gender-responsive labour and social protection policies.