Khan pledges £18m for London AI jobs plan

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has announced £18m to help young Londoners into work, training or education as part of a broader plan to prepare the capital for AI-driven changes in employment. He accepted recommendations from his AI and Jobs Taskforce, chaired by Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, which said an AI “jobs apocalypse” was not inevitable but urged London to shape the transition early.

The measures include an early-warning system to identify AI-driven job changes, a partnership bringing employers, workers and educators together to redesign roles, and a scheme pairing young Londoners with employers to shape future careers. The funding includes £10.5m to extend a programme for about 6,000 people not currently in education, employment or training.

A BusinessLDN survey of more than 2,000 business leaders found that half of their existing workforce had the skills their business needed, down from 63% a year earlier. More than three-quarters expected a significant need for AI and advanced digital skills over the next five years, up from 66% in 2025.