Mayor backs £30m investment to help London shape the future of work—not wait for it

• London AI and Jobs Taskforce reports that AI 'jobs apocalypse' is not inevitable - but London needs to act early rather than waiting for disruption to unfold
• Mayor accepts recommendations to futureproof London economy
• Taskforce recommends opening discussions with national government on further devolution of AI policy
• Mayor announces additional £18m to help thousands of young Londoners not in education, employment or training get the support, skills and opportunities they need to succeed

Artificial intelligence (AI) will transform London's economy. But an AI 'jobs apocalypse' is not inevitable, and neither is a future in which technology benefits only a privileged few. That is the conclusion of the London AI and Jobs Taskforce, whose recommendations have today been accepted by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

After three months of work with employers, trade unions, educators, experts, researchers and Londoners, the Taskforce, chaired by pioneering technology entrepreneur, Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, argues that AI is not a force of nature. The way work changes will be shaped by the choices cities, businesses and governments make now.

Rather than waiting for disruption to unfold, London should become the first city to actively shape the AI transition-helping employers adopt AI responsibly while creating new opportunities for workers, particularly young people entering the labour market.

The Taskforce has conducted the largest report into the impact of AI on employment in London in conjunction with the Institute for the Future of Work. This has identified how vulnerable specific jobs are to the impact of AI to direct where support may be most needed. It found that just over half of London's employment is in occupations that combine relatively high exposure with above-average capacity to adapt to AI. There are around 600,000 Londoners who work in occupations that combine higher exposure with a lower capacity to adapt. These workers are concentrated in clerical and administrative roles, are disproportionately women and tend to be paid below the London average.

The Taskforce also calls for the Mayor to open discussions with national government on devolving more powers to the capital so he can deliver the next phase of AI transition policy.

The Mayor has agreed to take forward three flagship recommendations designed to help London act before disruption becomes dislocation.

• Act early - Create a London AI Early Action System to spot emerging labour-market change before it becomes a crisis. This would combine labour market data, employer insight and local evidence into one early-warning system, so London can spot AI-driven change while there's still time to act on it, rather that when it is too late.

• Shape change - Launch a London AI at Work Partnership so employers, workers and educators redesign work together-not simply automate existing jobs. The Partnership should drive job redesign, workforce planning and skills development, so people and AI create more value together.
• Create opportunity - Launch London Future Ready Guarantee, bringing employers and young Londoners together to solve real business challenges and co-design the new jobs, skills and career pathways that AI will create. This will have a particular focus on building human skills which are equally important as technical skills, judgement, communication, creativity, collaboration and problem-solving.

In an early example of the Mayor putting the Taskforce's approach into practice, Sadiq has today announced an £18 million investment to help thousands more young Londoners access careers support, training and routes into good work, while also committing to expand AI training for Londoners. This funding is in addition to £12m that the Mayor announced last month to help small and medium-sized businesses harness the power of artificial intelligence and boost economic growth across the capital.

The Taskforce also calls on national government to work with London on the next phase of AI transition policy, giving cities greater flexibility to respond as technology reshapes local labour markets. The Mayor has requested a meeting with the new Minister for AI Kanishka Narayan to discuss the proposals, which include:

• greater flexibility over skills commissioning and deployment
• Testing AI Transition Incentives for employers investing in workforce transition
• retaining and reinvesting a share of public savings generated through successful employment outcomes
• wider fiscal and policy flexibility where it strengthens London's ability to respond

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: "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.

"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."

"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."

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."

Anna Thomas, Deputy Chair of the Taskforce and Head of Policy for the Future of Work Commission, said: "This is the most detailed picture yet of how AI is reshaping work in London, moving the debate from speculation to evidence. The Mayor is right that we need 'AI realism', not just AI skills. Around 600,000 Londoners are in jobs highly exposed to AI but least equipped to adapt, and the first rung of the career ladder is narrowing. But this is not destiny. Our research maps routes from at-risk and early-stage roles into good work, if AI, business and skills policies are redesigned. London can set the standard for 'AI for people, by people."

The £18m skills investment includes £10.5m million to extend the successful Support for Young Londoners programme for a further two years, to supporting around 6,000 young Londoners who are currently not in education, employment or training to overcome barriers and move into education, training or work and £7.3m to continue and expand the Mayor's London Careers Programme, supporting around 725 secondary and post-16 institutions to provide high-quality careers advice and more opportunities for young people to meet employers and experience the workplace.

Professor John Amaechi OBE, organisational psychologist, founder of APS Intelligence, Professor of Leadership at the University of Exeter Business School and Member of the London AI and Jobs Taskforce, said: "This report corrects a crucial myth: AI is not a force of nature. It's a series of choices, and a great many of them are made inside organisations by the employers and managers who decide how it's adopted. Whether AI helps London's workers or harms them turns on those choices: whether they consult the people whose jobs are changing, whether the work that remains is still worth doing, and whether young people entering the workforce and vulnerable workers already within it are treated as colleagues who'll oversee this technology, rather than as the first ones it replaces. AI is not a technology problem for someone else to solve. It's a leadership challenge, and the Mayor has used his convening power to put it in front of the employers and educators who can shape the answer. The rest is ours to get right."

Angie Ma, Co-Founder, Faculty, said: "Having spent over a decade deploying AI across some of the UK's most important organisations, the pattern is consistent: the technology is rarely the bottleneck - the gap is almost always in the human capability around it.

That's why these recommendations matter. Getting AI right in London means investing in people's skills and giving them the agency to shape how it's used, not just adapt to it. Do that well, and AI becomes a force for broader opportunity across the capital."

Adam Cantwell-Corn, AI and tech policy lead at the Trades Union Congress and Member of the London AI and Jobs Taskforce, said: "How AI impacts working lives in London will be shaped by choices and who gets to make them. Workers need to be part of making those decisions to ensure this technology benefits working people, their families, and communities. With unions around the table for the Mayor's Taskforce, we look forward to working towards a fair AI economy for the city."

Michelle Cuomo-Boorer, Managing Director of Strategy at London & Partners, said: "AI has the potential to make a significant impact on London's small business community, by helping founders and their employees to be more productive, resilient, save time and money, and scale their businesses.

"As AI technologies continue to rapidly develop, it is essential that small business owners are given the right tools, training and guidance to navigate these changes with confidence; understand the opportunities AI can bring and adopt it in ways that support their day-to-day work and growth.

"As a global hub for AI innovation, talent and research, London is uniquely placed to help its small business community realise the benefits of AI. London & Partners is committed to working with the Mayor and the London AI and Jobs Taskforce to ensure small businesses have the help they need to maximise the opportunities it can bring to their workforce, to the local economy and to Londoners."