The Rise of AI and the Erosion of Stability
In recent years, automation has steadily reshaped the global workforce but in Australia, a new frontier is emerging. Artificial intelligence is no longer just replacing factory floor workers or automating simple tasks. It is now quietly encroaching on the nation’s middle class, targeting roles that have long been considered stable, skilled, and protected from disruption. As the speed of AI development accelerates, experts warn that many mid-skill jobs, particularly those in administration, HR, customer service, and technical support, could be at high risk of redundancy within the decade. This shift has profound implications not just for workers, but for the structure of Australia’s economy and the long-term health of its workforce.
Middle-Skill Roles Are No Longer Safe
Historically, automation threatened manual and low-skill roles. However, the current wave of AI is different. AI can now replicate the thinking, processing, and communication skills once unique to humans in administrative or support positions. This includes payroll processing, recruitment screening, data entry, scheduling, and even parts of customer communication. According to research from The Australia Institute, nearly one in three Australian workers could face job losses or major role changes due to AI over the next five to ten years. Roles that were once viewed as secure are now directly exposed. For example, companies like WiseTech Global and major banks have already begun reducing their human workforce by automating support services, including customer handling and documentation review.
White-Collar Workers Are Underestimating the Risk
One of the most concerning insights from recent reports is that even high-skilled professionals are not immune. A 2024 academic study found that non-routine, analytical roles, often held by middle-class professionals, are becoming more susceptible to automation as AI systems grow more capable of interpreting complex data and generating creative outputs. Additionally, a study conducted with members of the Australian HR Institute found that 75 percent of HR professionals felt underprepared for the shift, with limited understanding of how AI could change hiring processes, internal operations, and role definitions. Despite this, many professionals continue to underestimate the potential for AI to directly impact their own job security.
Australia’s Middle Class Is Feeling the Strain
The threat to job security is also compounding other economic pressures on middle-income Australians, including wage stagnation, cost-of-living increases, and limited access to upskilling resources. Even as employers acknowledge the potential of AI, only 49 percent of businesses say they are actively reskilling their teams to adapt to automation. Meanwhile, 60 percent of Australian workers report they would be willing to retrain or upskill to protect their roles, but lack of time, funding, or clarity on what to learn often leaves them stuck. This disconnect is not just a workforce issue. It is a national productivity and economic resilience problem. Without coordinated responses, the gap between those who adapt and those who fall behind could significantly widen Australia’s economic inequality.
Time for Policy, Education, and Industry to Respond
There is growing recognition that AI’s impact must be managed, not just embraced. Calls for balanced regulation are gaining traction, particularly around the need for government and industry to work together on training pathways, AI transparency, and workforce protections.
Organisations like KPMG have urged policy-makers to develop frameworks that allow for responsible AI innovation while investing in people, especially those in vulnerable mid-tier roles. This includes short-form training, micro-credentialing, and employer-funded transition support.
Australia stands at a crossroads. AI is not only reshaping industries, it is reshaping the class structure of the workforce. As more middle-class roles come under threat, Australia must act swiftly to support those caught in the middle. The goal should not be to resist AI, but to adapt with purpose. Through smarter policy, targeted education, and a renewed investment in the capabilities of the human workforce, the country can ensure that this technological shift strengthens, rather than fractures, the middle class.
