A recent CV Genius survey revealed that 45% of professionals fear AI will replace them in the future, with concerns peaking among Gen Z workers at 62%.
Furthermore, 61% worry that AI will limit their career growth opportunities as the skills and requirements needed for advancement change.
This transformation is already underway for numerous occupations, but what jobs will AI replace? Here are 10 jobs facing the greatest risk of displacement from AI and automation in 2025:
1. Glass and ceramics makers, decorators, and finishers
- Automation risk: 96/100
- Manufacturing employment in 2024: -2.86%
- Skilled trades employment in 2024: -0.71%
In this traditional craft field, robotic manufacturing and 3D printing now handle much of the production previously done by human hands. Mass-market manufacturers have dramatically reduced their artisan workforce, with automation handling everything from moulding to glazing.
Even in the luxury and art markets, where human craftsmanship is still valued, AI-guided design tools are increasingly used to create patterns and forms that’d be challenging for human artisans to execute consistently.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently working in this field, focus on developing skills in digital design for ceramics and glassware that can be executed by automated systems. Think about whether your craftsmanship skills could transfer to custom or high-end handmade products that command premium prices. Also, consider teaching workshops or creating online courses about traditional techniques.
2. Data entry administrators
- Automation risk: 95/100
- Administrative and support service employment in 2024: -0.47%
- Administrative and secretarial employment in 2024: -3.12%
Data entry is experiencing one of the fastest rates of automation across all industries. OCR (optical character recognition) technology, automated form processing, and inter-system data transfer tools have eliminated the need for manual keying in most modern companies.
Natural Language Processing systems transcribe audio to text in real-time, while specialised software automatically transfers data between formats and systems without the need for human oversight.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently in data entry, draw upon your understanding of information structures to move into data quality assurance, where you can verify and correct the output of automated systems.
Seek opportunities to train on the OCR and automated systems now handling routine data input — companies still need people who understand how the data should look to configure and improve these systems. Familiarity with specific industry data (healthcare, finance, etc.) is valuable and can be combined with new technical skills for roles in compliance or reporting.
3. Finance officers, bookkeepers, and bank clerks
- Automation risk: 94/100
- Administrative and support service employment in 2024: -0.47%
- Administrative and secretarial employment in 2024: -3.12%
Financial services have long relied on human judgment and attention to detail. Bookkeepers maintain financial records, finance officers process transactions and create reports, and bank clerks assist customers with day-to-day banking needs.
Today, entry-level financial positions are disappearing as accounting software, banking apps, and algorithmic decision-making handle routine financial tasks. Major banks across the UK are closing physical branches while expanding their digital services, further reducing traditional clerk positions.
Career pivot advice: If you’re already in these roles, your understanding of financial systems is an asset — focus on becoming the bridge between technical systems and financial needs. Learn to use and configure the advanced financial software replacing routine tasks.
Consider qualifications in anti-money laundering, fraud detection, or financial compliance — areas where human judgment remains essential. For bank clerks, develop skills in financial advisory services or complex customer problem resolution, which still require human interaction.
4. Telephone salespersons
- Automation risk: 94/100
- Wholesale and retail trade employment in 2024: -6.4%
- Sales and customer service employment in 2024: -0.69%
Cold calling by telephone salespersons is rapidly becoming obsolete.
Auto-dialers paired with conversational AI can conduct basic sales conversations, qualify leads, and schedule follow-ups with potential customers. These systems work 24/7 without breaks, sick days, or commission. A recent survey suggests that 75% of B2B companies will use AI for cold calling by 2025.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently in telephone sales, your communication skills and understanding of customer psychology remain valuable. Focus on transitioning to consultative selling roles where complex needs assessment and relationship-building outweigh script following.
Consider moving into sales operations, where you can help design the very AI scripts and conversation flows now handling basic calls.
5. Secretaries and receptionists
- Automation risk: 92/100
- Administrative and support service employment in 2024: -0.47%
- Administrative and secretarial employment in 2024: -3.12%
Once essential to office operations, secretaries and receptionists have traditionally managed calendars, screened calls, greeted visitors, and handled correspondence.
Now, digital scheduling tools synchronise calendars automatically, while virtual phone systems route calls without human operators. In offices and hotels, digital check-in kiosks and tablet-based reception systems have replaced human greeters.
Career pivot advice: If you’re working in these roles, highlight and develop the aspects of your job that technology struggles to replicate — complex coordination, emotional intelligence, and institutional knowledge.
Position yourself as an executive assistant with technology expertise, project management skills, or specialised knowledge relevant to specific industries. Or, focus on tasks requiring emotional intelligence and complex coordination that AI still struggles with.
6. Industrial cleaners
- Automation risk: 90/100
- Manufacturing employment in 2024: -2.86%
- Elementary occupations employment in 2024: -6.84%
Maintaining cleanliness in industrial settings, offices, and public spaces has typically required teams of industrial cleaners working with basic tools and cleaning agents.
However, cleaning robots, UV sanitation systems, and automated floor scrubbers are reducing the demand for human cleaning staff in many commercial and industrial settings. Even window cleaning, once considered too complex for automation, is increasingly performed by specialised robots on high-rise buildings.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently working in industrial cleaning, pursue certification in specialised cleaning protocols for healthcare, pharmaceutical, or food production environments where regulatory compliance is critical.
Learn to operate, maintain, and program the robotic cleaning systems being deployed, or consider moving into cleaning supervision or inspection roles that require judgment about cleaning quality and compliance.
7. Retail cashiers and check-out operators
- Automation risk: 90/100
- Wholesale and retail trade employment in 2024: -6.4%
- Sales and customer service employment in 2024: -0.69%
Whether you enjoy the opportunity for small talk, or dread the awkward social interaction of it all, the familiar face of the retail cashier, scanning items and processing payments, has been a staple of shopping experiences for generations.
Self-checkout systems are now present in almost all supermarkets and big-box stores, with a single human supervisor often monitoring 6–8 machines simultaneously.
In the future, technology like Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ system may eliminate checkout staff entirely. It uses computer vision and sensor fusion to automatically detect what customers take from shelves and charge their accounts accordingly.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently working as a cashier, use your customer service skills and product knowledge to transition into personal shopping assistance, customer experience roles, or specialised department positions less vulnerable to automation.
Learn to troubleshoot and supervise self-checkout systems. Customer service team leader positions can be a natural progression that builds on your existing skills while adding management responsibilities.
8. Elementary administration occupations
- Automation risk: 89/100
- Administrative and support service employment in 2024: -0.47%
- Elementary occupations employment in 2024: -6.84%
Elementary administration occupations encompass a variety of roles crucial for the smooth operation of daily office tasks. Office machinists handle and maintain office equipment. Office workers perform a wide range of administrative duties including data entry and managing correspondence. General assistants support these activities by helping with clerical work, organizing files, and assisting in other routine office functions.
Workflow automation, document management systems, and AI assistants like Microsoft’s Copilot are handling many tasks once performed by entry-level office workers.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently in an administrative role, develop proficiency with advanced office technology including AI tools like Microsoft Copilot or Google Workspace. Consider specialising in compliance documentation, stakeholder communications, or event coordination — areas where human judgment and relationship management remain essential.
9. Stock control clerks and assistants
- Automation risk: 89/100
- Administrative and support service employment in 2024: -0.47%
- Administrative and secretarial employment in 2024: -3.12%
Manual inventory tracking by stock control clerks is becoming obsolete as RFID, computer vision, and weight-sensing technologies automatically monitor stock levels. Predictive systems even forecast needs and trigger reorders without human intervention.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently in stock control, focus on developing skills in inventory analytics and learn to use and configure the inventory management software now replacing manual systems. Your understanding of stock flow and product characteristics remains valuable when combined with data analysis capabilities.
Consider moving into procurement, vendor management, or supply chain optimisation roles that build on your product knowledge but require more strategic thinking.
10. Packers, bottlers, canners, and fillers
- Automation risk: 88/100
- Manufacturing employment in 2024: -2.86%
- Elementary occupations employment in 2024: -6.84%
Production line roles involving product packaging, bottling, canning, and filling are rapidly being automated across the UK. Food and beverage manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and consumer goods producers have installed high-speed automated packaging systems that can operate 24/7 with minimal human oversight.
Career pivot advice: If you’re currently working in packaging or filling operations, pursue training in production line setup, adjustment, and maintenance. Consider qualifications in food safety or engineering maintenance to transition into quality assurance or technical roles. Production scheduling and planning positions value your practical understanding of packaging operations while being less vulnerable to automation.
Adapt to stay ahead
Despite these major shifts in the jobs market, there’s reason for optimism. 91% of professionals acknowledge that AI requires constant upskilling to stay competitive, and 84% believe AI proficiency will make them more employable.
Interestingly, younger workers display the highest optimism about workplace automation:
- 92% of Gen Z professionals believe AI literacy will boost their job prospects
- 87% expect AI to reduce their workload
- 84% anticipate AI will their job performance
For job seekers, the trend towards AI automation suggests a clear strategy: develop skills that complement rather than compete with automation. Literacy in AI tools is absolutely essential for anyone in affected industries, and as workers of all ages navigate this transition, continuous learning and flexibility will be essential.
Methodology
We analysed job trends using data from the Office of National Statistics, focusing on occupation unit groups identified by their four-digit SOC codes. We selected groups where there was a minimum decrease of 3% in major group occupational employment or a 2.5% decrease in industry employment from 2023 to 2025, indicating significant job losses.
These selected occupations were then matched with their Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) equivalent and assessed in regard to their susceptibility to automation using the “Will Robots Take My Job?” tool based on the methodology from Frey and Osborne’s 2013 study, “The Future of Employment.”
About CV Genius
CV Genius is a leading resource established to help millions of UK job applicants achieve their career goals, offering an intuitive CV maker and cover letter generator software along with up-to-date job advice. The platform contains an extensive library of free, industry-specific CV templates and cover letter examples, and in-depth writing guides.
Backed by the company’s dedicated team of career advisors and HR specialists, CV Genius’s authority on CV writing as well as job search and interviewing strategies have earned recognition from notable publications, including the BBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Glassdoor, and MSN.
For media inquiries, please contact us.
