Do you think ChatGPT will replace your job?

Robert Walters candidate survey of professionals working at companies in Japan

Specialist professional recruitment firm Robert Walters Japan released results of their latest survey looking at how employees are using ChatGPT and AI tools in the workplace at both Japanese companies and gaishikei (foreign-affiliated companies). In this follow up release, we introduce further findings from the survey on whether employees feel their job might be on the line or not with emergence of ChatGPT, and the impact it might have moving forward.

Companies should focus on developing or upskilling their staff in anticipation of new job opportunities with the emergence of ChatGPT:

• 75% of company employees feel that their employers should focus on developing their staff since ChatGPT became available.
• Only 25% of office workers feel that their employers are putting more effort into developing their people since ChatGPT became available.
• 34% of female office workers and 29% of male office workers feel that ChatGPT might take away their jobs.

Top reasons that employees feel ChatGPT might take away their jobs:

1. ‘Decreased demand for my job’ (43%)
2. ‘Fear that my skills and experience will become worthless’ (40%)
3. ‘Worried that personalised services and relationships will become less important’ (25%)

Measures to take to prevent job loss:

1.  ‘Concentrate on higher value-added tasks’ (34%)
2. ‘Offer more personalised and customised services’ (25%)
3.  ‘Learn both hard and soft skills’ (15%)

Top skills respondents found worthwhile to learn:

Top hard skill: ‘data analysis and business intelligence’ (22%)
Top soft skill: ‘leadership and team management’ (16%)

Reasons why ChatGPT will not make employees lose their jobs:

1. ‘Scope of work in job description is separate from ChatGPT’ (42%)
2. ‘Tasks are beyond the capabilities of ChatGPT’ (36%)
3. ‘Own creativity and flexibility have a value that cannot be replaced’ (34%)

Moving Forward with ChatGPT

Impact of ChatGPT expected by employees:

• Around 70% of company employees suggest that the emergence of ChatGPT will change their work and create new job opportunities for them.
• Types of jobs that company employees expect to decrease dramatically since ChatGPT became available:

1.’Translator/Interpreter’ (54%)

2 ‘Customer support representatives’ (38%)

3.’Data entry supervisor’ (36%)

About Robert Walters Japan:

Established in London, United Kingdom, in 1985, Robert Walters is a specialist recruitment consultancy with operations in 31 countries around the world. Robert Walters Japan established its Tokyo office in 2000 and Osaka office in 2007. For over 20 years, we have been a driving force in the Japanese bilingual recruitment market, providing high quality candidates for our clients and access to the best jobs. Our consultants are experts in their respective industries and work in teams to provide recruitment consultation services across a wide range of industries and job categories. 

Press contact:
PR & Communications, Robert Walters Japan
Phone: 03-4570-1500   E-mail: [email protected]