Mayor backs £30m AI skills package to prepare London for changing jobs

The Mayor of London has accepted a series of recommendations from the London AI and Jobs Taskforce and is seeking greater devolved powers from government to help the capital respond to the impact of AI on jobs.

Alongside the publication of the taskforce’s report, Shaping How AI Changes Work in London, Sadiq Khan announced an additional £18 million investment to help young Londoners access skills, training and employment opportunities. Combined with £12 million announced last month to help small and medium-sized businesses adopt AI, the investment brings City Hall’s AI-related funding commitment to £30 million.

The taskforce concludes that an AI “jobs apocalypse” is “not inevitable” but argues London should act now rather than wait for disruption to unfold.

After three months of work with employers, trade unions, educators, researchers and Londoners, it found that just over half of London’s workforce is employed in occupations with relatively high exposure to AI but above-average capacity to adapt. However, around 600,000 Londoners work in occupations with higher exposure and lower capacity to adapt. These workers are concentrated in clerical and administrative roles, are disproportionately women and tend to earn below the London average.

“The debate about AI has become too polarised. Some claim it will solve everything. Others predict mass unemployment. Neither view helps Londoners prepare for the future,” said Khan.

“London has the talent, businesses, universities, educators and creativity to lead the world in responsible AI adoption. By acting now, we can boost productivity, create opportunity and make sure technological progress benefits everyone.”

He added: “Through our wider work to prepare London for the future, alongside £18m for new investment in skills, we’re helping ensure no young Londoner is left behind as part of my work to build a fairer, safer and more prosperous London for everyone.”

Three recommendations

The Mayor has agreed to take forward three flagship recommendations from the taskforce.

These include creating a London AI Early Action System to identify labour market changes before they become a crisis; establishing a London AI at Work Partnership to bring together employers, workers and educators to redesign jobs and develop skills; and launching a London Future Ready Guarantee to connect employers with young Londoners to help shape new jobs, skills and career pathways created by AI.

The taskforce also recommends opening discussions with national government on devolving additional AI policy powers to London, including greater flexibility over skills commissioning, testing AI transition incentives for employers and retaining a share of public savings generated through successful employment outcomes.

The Mayor has requested a meeting with AI minister Kanishka Narayan to discuss the proposals.

AI transition should be shaped, not endured

Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, chair of the London AI and Jobs Taskforce, said: “AI is changing how London works, but for many it still feels like something happening to them, not with them.

“The risk is not a sudden shock, but a quieter drift – fewer entry-level roles, weaker career ladders and growing inequality – unless we act early to shape how work evolves.

“If we bring employers, workers and educators together now, we can turn higher productivity into broader opportunity, better jobs and stronger public trust. The future of work is not being decided elsewhere, London has the chance to shape it.”

The taskforce said its work, undertaken with the Institute for the Future of Work, represents the largest study to date examining the impact of AI on employment in London. It is intended to help direct future skills and employment support towards workers and occupations most exposed to AI-driven change.