How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Jobs and Employee Rights

There is no dispute that artificial intelligence is no longer a technological luxury or confined to giant tech companies. It has infiltrated the details of daily life—from mobile applications to factory operating systems, from market analysis tools to decision-making rooms. However, what sparks the most controversy today about AI is not what it can do, but what it might take away from us… specifically, jobs.

In societies where family stability depends on secure employment, and financial planning is built on years of service and career progression, AI turns these concepts upside down. Jobs that once required a team of accountants or analysts are now performed by algorithms within minutes. Tasks that used to take days of review and approval are now automated with just a click. The question here is: What will the employer do? And what will the employee do?

From the perspective of employers, AI appears as a golden opportunity to cut costs, increase efficiency, and reduce reliance on human labor. Considering the reality of many companies burdened with end-of-service obligations, insurance, and leaves, the temptation is strong. Today, quietly, we are witnessing some companies restructuring their workforce, dismissing costly expertise, and replacing them either with smart systems or with lower-paid, less demanding, and less resistant staff.

However, on the other side, law acts as a barrier—at least it is supposed to. The current employment systems are still based on the ideas of “continuity,” “permanent employee,” and “accumulated rights,” such as the end-of-service benefit, calculated based on years of work. Here lies the paradox: How can companies be asked to innovate and adapt to technology while being legally bound by employment patterns from before the digital revolution?

Some companies have started adopting hybrid solutions: increasing part-time employment, temporary contracts, or remote work through virtual offices in other countries to avoid costly legal obligations. While this approach seems economical, it opens the door to a fragile labor market that does not protect workers, does not guarantee their rights, and does not foster social stability.

More importantly, there is a lack of clear legislation regulating the relationship between “Artificial Intelligence” and “Labor Law.” Can AI be considered an employee? Is reducing the workforce because of AI a legal justification for dismissal? Are end-of-service compensations calculated if the employee is replaced by a software program? Many questions remain unanswered, but their implications are already becoming evident in practice.

On the other hand, there is a more optimistic view. AI does not eliminate jobs but rather reshapes them. Yes, some traditional jobs will vanish, but others will emerge in data analysis, cybersecurity, developing smart solutions, content management, and even training AI models themselves. These new roles require different skills, urging the labor market to move quickly toward training and developing its talent pool.

There is hope that the entire work system will be reconsidered, including updating job definitions, organizing modern work arrangements, and perhaps restructuring the end-of-service system itself to become more flexible—based on actual performance and added value, rather than solely on years of service.

AI is not coming to eliminate humans; rather, it aims to free them from repetitive tasks and give them the opportunity to focus on what machines cannot do: creativity, ethics, and responsible decision-making. But for this transformation to succeed, legislative awareness must evolve to match the intelligence of the technology itself.