Comment by Trades Union Congress (TUC)

Labour market economists have long demonstrated that the amount of work in the economy is not fixed, and that labour market adjustments can create more jobs. Yet this ‘lump of labour fallacy’ is still applied to debates about technological innovation. We agree that AI may produce new types of jobs and demand for labour, as previous rounds of technological change have. But labour market disruption always brings winners and losers, and intervention is necessary to support those whose jobs change and whose skills need to be updated.