AI Could Reshape Jobs of Nearly 80 Million Workers Across ASEAN, ILO Report Finds

Artificial intelligence could reshape the jobs of nearly 80 million people across Southeast Asia, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization — yet the UN agency finds no evidence so far of the mass displacement that has dominated headlines elsewhere.

The report, titled "Generative AI and labour markets in ASEAN: Significant exposure, limited disruption, uneven preparedness," examines the implications of generative AI for jobs across the eleven countries of the ASEAN region, weighing both occupational exposure and emerging patterns of adoption.

The Numbers

According to ILO estimates, 22.9% of total employment in ASEAN — equivalent to nearly 80 million workers — is in occupations with more than a minimal degree of potential exposure to generative AI. But the distribution is heavily skewed toward augmentation rather than replacement: only about 11.7 million workers, or 3.3% of total employment, are in occupations facing the highest level of exposure.

Roughly 67% of jobs across the region remain in occupations with no identified exposure to AI at all, reflecting the large share of agricultural, manual, and service work in regional labor markets that current AI systems cannot touch.

Singapore Most Exposed, Unevenly Prepared

The country-level breakdown reveals a stark divide. Singapore records the highest share of workers with more than minimal generative AI exposure at 42.2% of total employment, followed by the Philippines at 28.1% — a reflection of Manila's massive business process outsourcing industry, where clerical and customer-service roles sit squarely in AI's path.

The report's subtitle telegraphs its central worry: preparedness is uneven. Wealthier members like Singapore are investing heavily in AI skills and infrastructure, while lower-income members lack the digital foundations to capture productivity gains — raising the prospect that AI could widen, rather than narrow, the region's development gaps.

No Jobs Apocalypse — Yet

Perhaps the report's most consequential finding is what it did not find: despite two years of rapid enterprise AI adoption, there is no evidence to date of large-scale AI-driven job losses in the region. The ILO cautions, however, that exposure estimates capture technical feasibility, not the pace of business adoption, which could accelerate sharply as costs fall and agentic systems mature.

For governments across the region — several of which, including Vietnam and South Korea's neighbors, have passed or are drafting comprehensive AI laws — the report lands as both reassurance and warning. The disruption has not arrived on schedule. The window to prepare for it is still open, but narrowing.