For over a year and a half, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on employment has been a widely discussed topic. Now, we can better understand its potential effects in Spain, as a significant figure has emerged: up to 2.3 million jobs could disappear in the next 10 years due to AI.
This data comes from a Funcas report on the impact of AI on the Spanish labor market between 2025 and 2035. It highlights that this is no longer a speculative future but rather how employment will shift as companies integrate AI into more processes, potentially making humans largely dispensable in the workforce.
AI Could Eliminate Around 2.3 Million Jobs in Spain
Funcas estimates a gross job destruction ranging from 1.7 to 2.3 million jobs in Spain. In the central scenario, the figure hovers around 2 million positions as an average. There are also two extreme scenarios: a milder one with approximately 700,000 jobs destroyed, and a much harsher one exceeding 3.5 million.
What’s striking is that the impact isn’t limited to mechanical or highly repetitive tasks. Generative AI is directly targeting many office positions, affecting administrative roles, technical profiles, qualified professionals, content creation, text revision, data analysis, information management, customer service, and internal processes that previously relied on a person behind a screen.
All of us in these roles, including myself, might find ourselves seeking new avenues, perhaps in less conventional fields. Regardless, all is not lost if we strive to adapt and improve, as there is a more optimistic perspective to consider.
Two Scenarios Will Shape Our Future
Funcas distinguishes between two important concepts: being exposed to AI and being automatable by AI. Spain has 27.4% of its jobs exposed to generative AI, slightly above the OECD average of 26%. However, the actual risk of automation is much lower at 5.9%, significantly below the OECD’s 12%. Simply put, many people will work alongside AI, but this doesn’t necessarily mean all those jobs will vanish. This isn’t entirely bad news.
There’s also a less catastrophic outlook. AI not only replaces tasks but also creates new ones; it transforms rather than just destroys. The report estimates that around 1.61 million new jobs linked to this technology could emerge. With this compensation, the net job loss in the central scenario would be about 400,000 positions over 10 years, which is still a substantial number, representing nearly half a million people who may not return to traditional employment.
Companies Are Increasingly Adopting AI
Spanish companies are already embracing this trend. The use of AI in companies with 10 or more employees rose from 12.4% in 2023 to 21.1% in the first quarter of 2025. This is no longer just about casually trying out tools like ChatGPT but about integrating AI into real processes, automation, operations, system delegation, supervision, and much more.
The next decade will clarify which jobs are substituted, which are completely transformed, and which are created thanks to AI. The crucial difference will lie in a fundamental skill: knowing how to use AI or watching as others leverage it for us. Ultimately, as with the internet, AI is poised to reshape employment in Spain. We must evolve with it, or risk falling behind in unemployment rates.
