Last Updated on October 7, 2025 by Team Ideas24
Artificial intelligence isn’t just a buzzword, it’s actively reshaping how work gets done across London. New research suggests nearly one million roles could be changed by AI, with the biggest impacts on jobs that involve repetitive, rules-based tasks.
Think telemarketing, bookkeeping, data entry, retail cashiering, and even parts of fast food and warehouse work. And here’s the part that matters for women over 35: because many of these roles are disproportionately held by women, the risk, and opportunity, skew female.
According to LiveCareer UK, more than 200,000 telemarketers, 150,000 bookkeepers, and 95,000 data entry specialists in London alone could see their roles transformed by AI. McKinsey adds that job postings for roles most exposed to AI have dropped 38% compared with three years ago,
The NHS offers a glimpse of what smart adoption looks like. At Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, a pharmacy robot dispenses medicines while AI analyzes demand to predict what drugs will be needed and where.
The result? Faster workflows, fewer errors, and safer care. As Chief Pharmacist Rachel Knight explains: “It can tell us where we need to store our medicines so they’re ready for the patient at the point of use. It makes our whole work flow more efficient and it also makes it a lot safer for the patients.” That’s the headline benefit: when AI takes on the repetitive parts, people get to spend time on judgment, care, and creativity.
For women mid-career, the takeaway is both practical and empowering. Careers expert Jasmine Escalera advises having an open conversation with your manager about how to complement AI rather than compete with it, think data literacy, process improvement, and human-facing strengths like communication and leadership.
In the NHS, staff are even taking digital apprenticeships to build AI skills on the job. As digital health leader Zeinab Hussain puts it, AI isn’t there to take jobs but to take over “mundane repetitive tasks,” freeing people for higher-value work.
Why this matters now: with entry-level hiring slowing in AI-exposed fields, employers risk hollowing out future pipelines. That makes mid-career upskilling even more valuable. The organizations that thrive, and the professionals who do, too, will be those that can clearly separate what should be automated from what only humans do best.
For the full story and quotes, read the article on BBC: A million jobs in London could be changed by AI
