Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus is facing labour shortages as its workforce ages, unemployment remains low and employers seek workers across several sectors, while business adoption of artificial intelligence remains below the European Union average. Data indicate that AI is more widely used by individuals than by employers.
AI use gap
Some 44.2 per cent of Cypriots used generative AI in 2025, above the EU average, while usage among younger people reached 76.5 per cent.
However, only 9 per cent of Cypriot businesses used AI, compared with 20 per cent across the EU and 42 per cent in Denmark, according to Eurostat data.
Demographic and labour pressures
Cyprus has more people aged 65 and over than children below 15, while its fertility rate stands at 1.4 children per woman.
Unemployment was 4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, while employers were seeking to fill nearly 14,000 vacancies, particularly in construction, retail, tourism and food services.
The Human Resource Development Authority, Anad, forecasts that Cyprus will require about 11,700 recruits annually until 2032. More than half of those recruits are expected to replace workers permanently leaving the labour market rather than fill newly created jobs.
International evidence
Adecco chief executive Denis Machuel told Reuters on July 23 that some companies were using AI to justify job cuts linked to weak performance, restructuring or other factors.
Three and a half years after the launch of ChatGPT, employment across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development remains close to record levels. Adecco estimated that 1.9 million AI-related jobs were created between 2022 and 2025, while AI was changing work tasks faster than it was eliminating entire occupations.
Australia’s first dedicated AI employment assessment, published on July 8, found no broad labour-market disruption, collapse in youth employment or unusual increase in workers moving between occupations. Some highly exposed roles recorded slower growth, although software development employment expanded strongly despite being among the occupations most exposed to AI.
Business adoption in Britain
In Britain, AI use among businesses with at least 10 employees nearly tripled between late 2023 and June 2026, rising from about 12 per cent to 35 per cent.
Only one in 10 adopting businesses reported extensive use of the technology. Most said AI had not changed staff numbers, while training existing employees was considerably more common than recruiting specialist AI teams.
