German youth employment drops in AI-exposed roles

The German labor market is experiencing a distinct downturn among young workers in roles highly susceptible to artificial intelligence automation. An IFO Institute study indicates that full employment for 20- to 24-year-olds in AI-exposed professions, such as office and IT support, has dropped by 14% since the launch of ChatGPT. While jobs in these high-susceptibility categories have grown by 1.8% overall, the IFO Institute notes that less exposed jobs have declined due to broader structural shifts rather than AI alone. Andrea Nahles, head of the Federal Employment Agency, forecasts that 800,000 jobs will be lost to AI in Germany over the next 15 years, balanced by the creation of 800,000 new positions. The IFO Institute argues that while general structural changes are driving recent market fluctuations, young workers in routine roles are the primary losers in the transition. Separately, the German state of NRW is piloting 'Forensight,' an AI system developed with the Fraunhofer Institute for tax investigations. In a recent pilot, the tool identified 1,000 relevant pages among 20 million files in weeks, a task that previously took years, though human oversight remains required for final decisions.