Cyprus Workers Face AI Exposure as Unions and Employers Call for Education Reform

Nicosia, Cyprus. A European Commission report published last week found that 56 per cent of the Cypriot workforce holds a job with high exposure to artificial intelligence, and that 27 per cent of private-sector employees face a risk of being displaced from their positions. Trade union and business leaders told the Sunday Mail that education should be adapted to the new reality.

Job cuts abroad fuel concern

Many companies are urging staff to use AI for their daily tasks, which has raised fears that some roles could eventually lose their human element, leading to redundancies or fewer vacancies. In the United Kingdom, Barclays, among the biggest banks in Britain, has announced that it will cut around 5,000 staff within the next two and a half months as it relies more heavily on AI.

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In Ireland, Politico reported that the country’s profitable tech sector has been shaken by successive rounds of AI-driven layoffs. That report caused unease among workers in Limassol, where forex and fintech firms employ a large share of the population of the island’s wealthiest city.

Union view

Christos Tombazos, deputy secretary-general of the trade union Peo, said that worries about job losses are entirely logical. He suggested that the changes AI is bringing to employment could be comparable to those of the industrial revolution, and noted that they are happening very quickly and altering how people work.

Tombazos stressed that his union is “not against technology or its development”. He said, however, that progress should serve society rather than harm it.

Peo has set out similar positions before. It has called for human oversight to be kept in decision-making. It has also warned that in fields such as law, handing routine tasks to AI could deprive young lawyers and new graduates of the experience they need to build successful careers.

Tombazos therefore called for education systems to be modernised so that young people are prepared for working alongside AI, instead of being shut out of the workplace by it.

Employers’ view

Philokypros Rousounides, secretary-general of the Cyprus chamber of commerce and industry (Keve), agreed on the importance of education. He told the Sunday Mail that suitable training would help both current and incoming workers use AI to their advantage, adapt, and work more efficiently.

Rousounides said it is too early to determine whether the growth of AI has led to layoffs in Cyprus. He added: “if we manage the matter correctly, we will not have job losses here”.