Women are missing out on new AI jobs

The Guardian reported on 4 October 2026 that women hold only a small fraction of the new jobs appearing in artificial intelligence. At the same time, they are overrepresented in roles that have a high risk of being disrupted by AI.

The article describes a phrase used in Silicon Valley: permanent underclass. It means people who will not have upward mobility in the age of AI. The phrase usually refers to a future where AI automates jobs. But for women in tech, it is starting to look like the present.

Read the full story in the Guardian.

What it means for a small business

If you are building a team or thinking about AI tools, this matters.

The people designing the tools are mostly men. That shapes what the tools do well and what they miss. It shapes whose problems get solved first.

It also means you might be overlooking good candidates. Women are less likely to be in the new AI roles. That does not mean they cannot do them.

On the other side, if your business uses AI to automate work, check which roles are most affected. If women hold most of those roles, the change will not fall evenly across your team.

This matters for your business. A narrow group designing the tools means narrow thinking. And automating unevenly can leave you with the wrong skills and lose the people you need.

Three things to try this month

Look at who you are hiring for AI work. If you are bringing in someone to choose tools, build automations or manage an AI project, list the skills you actually need. Then check whether the job description accidentally asks for things that favour one group. For example, asking for a computer science degree when you really need someone who can think through a process and spot what could go wrong.

Check which roles automation would affect most. List the tasks you are thinking of automating. Then see who does them now. If the answer is mostly women, or mostly one group, think about what happens next. Consider whether you could retrain them for different work. Or consider whether you could move them into roles that use the new tools rather than roles the tools replace.

Ask who is not in the room when you choose tools. If you are picking an AI tool or an automation platform, think about who will use it day to day. If they are not part of the decision, their needs might not be met. Bring them in early. Ask what would make their work easier and what would make it harder.

Small decisions add up. Hiring one person, choosing one tool, automating one process. Each one is a chance to do it thoughtfully.

You can take the free automation check at What could your business automate?