Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any recent assessment made by her Department of the impact of artificial intelligence on graduate job levels.
Minister for the Economy: Relevant evidence is considered within existing labour market analysis, including the Skills Barometer 2023–2033, which reflects the implications of technological change, including AI, and the continued importance of higherlevel and transversal skills as the labour market evolves.
In September 2025, Matrix, the Northern Ireland Science and Industry Panel, published ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work in Northern Ireland’. While the report was not commissioned to assess graduate job levels specifically, it identified workforcewide implications of AI adoption and highlighted the importance of improved intelligence on emerging impacts.
It recommended the establishment of an AI Workforce Impact Observatory, for example, including monitoring indicators such as graduate placement shortfalls and other early signals of workforce disruption.
The department has established an AI Advisory Panel, which will consider this recommendation and help advise on priorities for skills, workforce preparedness and the future impacts of AI, including for graduate employment.
ENDS
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