Women in Administrative Roles Face Highest AI Displacement Risk

Women hold the vast majority of jobs most vulnerable to artificial intelligence disruption, raising urgent questions about workforce transition as automation reshapes traditional pathways to middle-class stability.

New research from the National Bureau of Economic Research examined which workers would struggle most to find new employment if displaced by AI. While roughly 70% of workers in AI-exposed roles are well-positioned to transition, those in clerical and administrative positions face significantly steeper challenges, according to the working paper by Sam Manning and Tomás Aguirre.

The gender dimension is stark: women comprise 84% of administrative back-office roles in New York state, according to Governor Kathy Hochul's office. These positions—including customer service representatives, secretaries, administrative assistants, and office supervisors—have historically provided women without college degrees a reliable route to middle-class earnings.

Why it matters

This isn't just about job losses. Administrative roles have long served as economic anchors for women, offering dignity, stability, and advancement opportunities without requiring four-year degrees. If AI rapidly transforms these positions, the workers who built careers around them may find alternative employment pays thousands of dollars less—widening economic inequality along gender lines at scale.

State response takes shape

Governor Hochul launched the FutureWorks Commission in May to address AI's workforce impact, with policy recommendations due by year's end. The commission held its first listening session in August focused specifically on women in at-risk roles.

"As New York's first female governor, when I heard that women are likely to be disproportionately impacted by AI in the workforce, alarm bells went off," Hochul said. The commission aims to ensure "AI does not have an outsized impact in fields where women have long built careers and supported families."

Molly Kinder, commission co-chair and former Brookings Institution senior fellow, emphasized these jobs' quiet importance: "They are a foothold to the middle class without a college degree."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects office and administrative support employment will decline 4% over the next decade—the steepest drop of any major occupational category.

Training pivots to AI literacy

Workforce development organizations are adapting. The Capital District Women's Empowerment & Resource Center now integrates AI training into workshops and online courses, encouraging women to highlight transferable skills like collaboration and leadership.

"Being women in transition, they are used to adapting to change and being resourceful, which makes them ideal candidates for the changing work environment," said Elizabeth Miller Guthier, the center's executive director.

Brian Williams, executive director of the Capital Region Workforce Development Board, noted AI literacy has become as fundamental as Microsoft Office proficiency was five years ago. He observed that jobs aren't necessarily disappearing—they're evolving.

"The workers who are benefiting the most aren't those who know how to build AI," Williams said. "They're the workers who understand how to use AI in general and become better at what they're already doing."

Albany shows higher concentrations of AI-exposed jobs than state and national averages, according to a Times Union analysis. AI exposure was measured by evaluating whether tasks within an occupation could be completed 50% more efficiently using existing or custom AI systems.

These details were first reported by the Times Union.