According to a survey conducted by the Munich Ifo Institute, approximately 20 percent of companies already utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) consider it easy or very easy to replace highly qualified or degree-holding employees with less skilled staff who are supported by AI. Furthermore, about 15 percent of these companies reported finding it equally easy to substitute experienced workers with inexperienced employees who utilize AI. Ifo researcher Anna Ruffert noted that AI is fundamentally transforming the working world and potentially capable of partially replacing both formal qualifications and practical experience in certain areas. Currently, 54.5 percent of companies surveyed report using AI in their business processes.
This trend of perceived substitution is particularly pronounced within the retail sector, where 28.6 percent of companies rate the replacement of (specialized) university degrees by AI as easy or very easy. Comparing this to other sectors, service providers reported a figure of 19.7 percent, manufacturing companies 14.6 percent, and construction firms the lowest at 9.3 percent. These figures remained nearly consistent across all company sizes.
However, the effect is somewhat less pronounced when considering professional experience. In retail, 22.9 percent of companies believe they can easily or very easily replace professional experience with an inexperienced worker supported by AI. For service providers, this figure stands at 14.5 percent, followed by manufacturing at 12.6 percent, and construction at 7.7 percent. Ruffert summarized this nuance by stating that, for businesses, compensating for professional experience seems more challenging through AI than replacing formal educational credentials.
Despite these indications of perceived ease of replacement, the majority of AI-using companies remain cautious. Over half of the surveyed businesses (55.4 percent) still consider it difficult or impossible to substitute a highly qualified employee with a less skilled, AI-supported worker. The perception of difficulty is even stronger when exchanging an experienced professional for a less skilled, AI-utilizing employee, a scenario deemed difficult or impossible by 62.7 percent of the companies.
