Artificial intelligence is preparing to shake up the French and European job market, putting many professions at risk. A McKinsey study carried out reveals that AI will first affect a historically feminized profession.
The artificial intelligence revolution is no longer a distant prospect, but a reality that is already profoundly transforming the way we work. Technological advances are occurring at a rapid pace, disrupting traditional processes and redefining the skills needed in the professional world. Generative AI tools, capable of automating tasks once considered exclusively human, are gradually becoming established in all sectors of activity.
The McKinsey firm published an in-depth study in May 2024 which paints a striking portrait of the job market by 2030. The conclusions are clear: Europe is preparing to experience a major transformation of its professional landscape. The study reveals that the pace of occupational change will accelerate significantly, with a rate 1.6 to 2.2 times higher than that observed before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European job market is expected to experience between 1.1 and 1.5 million professional transitions annually until 2030. This projection contrasts sharply with the period 2016-2019, when only 0.4% of the workforce European work changed profession every year. But who will be the first to be affected?
In this context, the McKinsey study reveals which is the first profession that will be replaced by AI. And these are secretaries/administrative assistants, a very common position. The firm refers more generally to support and administrative professions with 5 million fewer positions in 2030 compared to 2022 in Europe. A category which also includes accounting, legal and human resources professions. In France, secretaries and administrative assistants represent more than 600,000 people who will have to consider professional retraining. This figure is all the more alarming as this profession is very largely feminized, with 98% women among the workforce.
In total, 18% of current positions in this field are threatened with disappearance by 2030. This profession, which until now offered a certain stability with 93% permanent contracts, is today at a critical turning point. The tasks traditionally carried out by these professionals – data processing, administrative organization, document management – are precisely those that AI can now accomplish effectively.
Faced with this observation, the question of professional retraining becomes crucial. The sector's 165,000 executive secretaries and hundreds of thousands of other professionals will need to acquire new skills to adapt to a changing job market. This transition represents a major challenge, particularly for the 14% of professionals under 30 who will have to reorient their careers sooner than expected.
