Almost half of employees fear for their jobs because of AI

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• 43% of employees in Switzerland are worried about the negative impact of AI on their workplace.
• Over seven out of ten employees expect jobs to be cut in Switzerland as a result of competition from AI
• Almost nine out of ten respondents in Switzerland now use AI tools – an increase of 4 percentage points compared to 2024.
• Nearly two-thirds of employees in Switzerland are taking it upon themselves to learn more about AI.

Zurich, 8 July 2025 - Do employees in Switzerland view artificial intelligence (AI) as a help or a hindrance – or even a job killer? The fact is that more and more employees are using AI in their daily lives. As many as 86% now do so in Switzerland, up from 82% 12 months ago. With an increase of four percentage points, the share of AI users in Switzerland thus rose at a similarly strong rate compared to the European average (78% overall, up six percentage points).

The more employees use AI tools and explore the possibilities, the more positive their attitude towards the technology becomes. On average in Europe, more than seven out of ten respondents (70%) say that they are open-minded towards AI – an increase of 7% compared to 2024.

These are the results of the second edition of the EY European AI Barometer. 4,942 employees in nine European countries (including 500 in Switzerland) and 21 sectors in total were questioned for the representative survey.

Commenting on the study, Adrian Ott, Partner and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at EY Switzerland, said: “Those who actively use AI develop a more positive attitude towards it. The Swiss are leading the way in Europe, with a usage rate of 86% – practical experience alleviates fears.”

Great fear of job losses as a result of AI

As AI becomes more widespread and the scope to use it increases, more and more employees seem to be realizing that AI applications could lead to companies needing fewer employees: More than seven out of ten respondents in Switzerland (76%) think that the use of AI will lead to job losses. Almost half of employees in Switzerland (43%) are concerned about the impact of AI on their own jobs. Across Europe, 42% of employees fear that AI could put their job at risk.

Only a third are allowed to use AI freely at work

Those who use AI in Switzerland use the applications most for text creation (58%), chatbots (39%) and translation programs (35%), as well as voice assistants (29%). Respondents see the greatest potential for AI applications in the areas of time saving (56%), error prevention (38%) and cost reduction (36%). However, just under one in three Swiss employees (32%) are allowed to use AI applications at work without restrictions, while the proportion of those who are only allowed to do so with restrictions (45%) is significantly higher. Nearly one in six (15%) of those surveyed in the current EY study are not allowed to use AI in their day-to-day work at all.

Improving AI capabilities is critical for the future

The most important factor in learning how to use AI safely and efficiently is recurring training, accompanied by internal AI systems which allow employees to gain practical experience in a secure environment. Adrian Ott from EY Switzerland confirms this: “Fear of losing a job is understandable, but clear communication on the technology plan on the part of management and opportunities for employees to build up or deepen their own AI knowledge can help to address the concerns of their own workforce.”

The majority of employees have now accepted such offers, and the proportion of employees taking advantage of advanced training measures in the field of AI remains at a high level in Switzerland at 61% (2024: 60%).

This puts Swiss employees among the top group compared to their counterparts in other European countries, with only Italy and Spain (64% each) and Germany (63%) ahead of them. Respondents in Portugal, Austria and France, however, are much less inclined to undertake further training (47%, 48% and 50%, respectively).

The proportion of those in Switzerland who are satisfied with the opportunities for further training in AI has fallen year on year from 36% to 28% and thereby closer to the European average of 25%.

Employers are obliged to provide further training

Adrian Ott says: “The 61% figure demonstrates an exemplary willingness among employees in Switzerland to undergo further training in the area of AI. However, the low level of satisfaction with what is being offered is a warning signal – companies must design their training programs in a more practical and targeted manner based on the systems provided internally and regularly adapt them to the fast-moving developments.”

At the moment, there is still a considerable discrepancy between employee satisfaction and management’s assessment of AI training: For example, the majority of decision-makers in Switzerland (54%) believe that their employees have had an appropriate level of training opportunities and are well prepared for the transformation process that the AI revolution is bringing with it. A significant gap is discernible when it comes to estimating the increase in productivity through AI. For example, a little over a third of non-managers (36%) say that AI has improved management productivity, yet more than half (52%) of managers take this view.

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