UK draws up contingency plan for 'unprecedented' AI job losses as minister warns official figures may be hiding true scale

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026.

AI minister Kanishka Narayan has revealed the government is drawing up emergency plans for severe AI-driven unemployment, warning that the true impact on jobs may already be going uncounted. Speaking at a Labour conference event, Narayan said companies are quietly automating roles without citing AI as the cause, meaning headline unemployment figures could be masking a deeper crisis. The UK unemployment rate has already climbed to 4.9 per cent, with 101,000 fewer payrolled employees over the past year and a further 26,000 estimated lost in August alone.

Narayan said a tech firm told him it was hiring fewer people because tasks had been automated — but not recording AI as the reason.

Oracle, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft have all shed thousands of jobs this year, even as they channel billions into AI infrastructure.

The economic disruption is reportedly raising concerns that a worsening jobs crisis could drive Britain further into lawlessness.