AI Layoffs Hit Women Harder, ILO Research Shows

Sayantani Biswas reported on 20 Oct 2026 that research by the International Labour Organization published in March found nearly one in 10 women in high-income countries works in an occupation at the highest risk of AI exposure.

By Career Ahead AI — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

Why Women Face Higher AI Risk

Ariane Hegewisch, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Women's Policy Research, said AI is focused on routine tasks and clerical jobs that many women hold. She stated that 90% of secretaries and clerical workers are women.¹

Hegewisch warned that "AI can learn."¹

What History Shows About Job Shocks

In the 1940s, women accounted for nearly 95% of telephone operators in the US. Economists James Feigenbaum of Boston University and Daniel P. Gross of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business examined historical employment and earnings data to study the impact of automated telephone switching systems.¹

Gross of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business examined historical employment and earnings data to study the impact of automated telephone switching systems.1

Feigenbaum and Gross wrote in 2020 that the effect of the shock on incumbent operators was to dispossess many of their jobs and careers. An estimated 75,000 operator jobs disappeared due to automated telephone switching systems.¹

They also wrote that future workers found work in other fields, often taking up similar-quality jobs, and described younger workers as more adaptive to an evolving labor market.¹

Women's Employment Rose After Earlier Shifts

From 1950 to 1980, the number of employed women in the US increased by more than 25 million. Women's labour force participation rate in the US rose from 34% to 52% between 1950 and 1980.¹

Jeremy Greenwood, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania, and other researchers described household appliances as 'engines of liberation'. In 1980, nearly 4.7 million Americans worked as secretaries, stenographers and typists, with more than 98% of them being women.¹

Software Adoption's Measured Impact

A 2022 paper by Marcus Dillender and Eliza Forsythe found that companies adopting software for office and administrative work experienced a 1% decline in employment in the sector. The same paper found a 3% increase in wages for college graduates alongside the employment decline.¹

Economist David Autor said most people do not change careers often and stick with career decisions made early in life. He added that when careers become technologically obsolete, workers will generally do something not as good.¹

In 1980, nearly 4.7 million Americans worked as secretaries, stenographers and typists, with more than 98% of them being women.1

Clerical Roles Carry AI Risk

If you work in secretarial, clerical, or administrative roles, treat AI exposure as a live factor in your next move. Nearly one in ten women in high-income countries already works in an occupation at the highest risk of AI exposure, and 90% of secretaries and clerical workers are women. Software adoption for office work produced a 1% employment decline in that sector, so these jobs are not static. When weighing a role, ask whether its core tasks are routine and administrative, since those are the tasks AI targets first.¹

History offers a concrete reason to stay adaptable rather than assume a single career lasts. When automated switching eliminated 75,000 telephone operator jobs, future workers found similar-quality work elsewhere, and younger workers adapted more readily. Women's employment rose by over 25 million from 1950 to 1980 even after earlier shocks. Also note that software adoption coincided with a 3% wage increase for college graduates, so investing in education or skills that pair with technology may improve your pay prospects even as some jobs shrink.¹