Ask Onix
Former PM warns of AI impact on youth employment
Rishi Sunak has called for the abolition of National Insurance to offset the growing threat artificial intelligence poses to entry-level jobs, particularly in sectors like law, accountancy and the creative industries.
Speaking to the BBC, the former UK prime minister-now an adviser to AI firm Anthropic and Microsoft-acknowledged that graduates face mounting challenges securing roles as companies increasingly rely on AI to drive growth without expanding their workforce.
Corporate leaders signal hiring slowdown
Sunak revealed that executives have privately described a shift in recruitment trends, with many adopting the phrase "flat is the new up" to describe stagnant hiring despite business expansion.
"They're starting to see how they can deploy AI to maintain growth without significantly increasing employment," he said. "That's why we need to address this issue seriously and proactively."
Tax reform proposed to incentivise hiring
To counter the trend, Sunak proposed a gradual elimination of National Insurance, replacing it with higher taxes on corporate profits-boosted, he argued, by AI-driven productivity gains.
"We should rebalance the system to encourage businesses to hire rather than replace workers with technology," he told BBC Newsnight. "AI could help people perform their jobs better, but we need policies that steer it in that direction."
Global tax shifts on the horizon
Sunak warned that governments worldwide would need to adapt as revenue from employment taxes declines, forcing them to seek alternative funding sources. He emphasised that AI's impact on jobs might differ from past technological disruptions, requiring targeted interventions.
"This may not follow the same pattern as previous cycles. We have the chance to shape a more positive outcome."
Rishi Sunak, former UK prime minister
AI safety and UK's tech ambitions
Sunak, who also serves as a senior adviser at Goldman Sachs, highlighted concerns over Anthropic's latest AI model, Claude Mythos, which has demonstrated superior performance to humans in certain cybersecurity tasks. He stressed the need for independent oversight rather than self-regulation by tech firms.
"We shouldn't rely on companies to mark their own homework," he said, praising the UK's AI Security Institute-established during his premiership-for becoming the first to evaluate Mythos' capabilities.
Cross-party push for UK tech investment
In a rare show of bipartisanship, Sunak revealed he had collaborated with Labour's deputy prime minister, David Lammy, to promote UK tech investment at a recent AI summit. He championed the concept of "Londonmaxxing" and "Britmaxxing," terms coined by industry insiders to describe a surge in multi-billion-pound tech investments in Britain.
"We are an AI superpower by any measure," he said. "The UK has the opportunity to lead the world in productive AI adoption, alongside our strong presence of companies like DeepMind, Anthropic and OpenAI."
