GenAI to Hit Women's Jobs More than Men's, ILO Warns

Why It Matters

As GenAI reshapes work, unchecked bias could deepen gender gaps, undermining decades of progress toward labor equality and limiting economic growth.

Key Takeaways

• Women face higher GenAI exposure in 88% of nations.
• Female‑dominated jobs twice as likely to be automated.
• STEM underrepresentation limits women's AI benefits and design input.
• Biased training data can amplify gender discrimination across workplaces.
• Inclusive policies can turn GenAI into equality‑enhancing tool.

Pulse Analysis

The ILO’s latest brief arrives at a pivotal moment when generative AI is scaling across sectors, from customer service chatbots to advanced analytics platforms. While the technology promises efficiency gains, the report highlights that women are disproportionately positioned in roles—particularly in services and care‑oriented occupations—where routine tasks are most vulnerable to automation. This exposure is not uniform; data show that in 88% of surveyed economies, female workers face higher risk, a pattern driven by long‑standing occupational segregation that clusters women in sectors experiencing rapid AI adoption.

Underlying this exposure are three interlocking forces. First, entrenched gender segregation places women in jobs with higher automation potential. Second, the persistent under‑representation of women in STEM and AI development limits their influence over algorithmic design, allowing biased datasets to perpetuate stereotypes. Third, AI systems trained on skewed data can reinforce discriminatory outcomes in hiring, promotion, and pay, especially for women intersecting with other marginalised identities. These dynamics create a feedback loop where technology amplifies existing inequities, threatening both job quality and career progression for a sizable portion of the global workforce.

Policymakers, employers, and civil society can break this cycle through gender‑responsive AI governance. Strategies include mandating diverse data sets, incentivising women’s participation in AI‑related training, and embedding gender impact assessments into AI procurement processes. Strong labour institutions and social dialogue are essential to negotiate fair work redesigns that leverage AI for ergonomic and safety improvements without eroding autonomy. By proactively shaping GenAI’s deployment, stakeholders can transform a potential source of disparity into a catalyst for inclusive growth and equitable employment outcomes.