Warsaw, 24 October 2025 – SkiLMeeT researchers Piotr Lewandowski (IBS) and Ulrich Zierahn-Weilage (Utrecht University School of Economics) took part in “Seminar on Scenarios of Productivity Growth and Structural Change in a World with Rapidly Advancing AI”, organised jointly by the Polish National Bank (NBP) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB).
The event gathered researchers and policymakers from across Europe to discuss how rapid technological change and artificial intelligence are reshaping productivity, skills, and economic structures.
Ulrich Zierahn-Weilage contributed with a keynote presentation of his paper “Expertise at Work: New Technologies, New Skills, and Worker Impacts,” co-authored with Cäcilia vom Baur (ifo Institute) and Anna Salomons (Utrecht University). The study analyses how technological change transforms vocational training systems and labour market outcomes in Germany. It finds that occupations most exposed to emerging technologies are also those where training curricula evolve the fastest, shifting focus toward digital and social skills that complement automation rather than compete with it.
The research further shows that workers benefiting from technology-aligned training are more likely to stay in their trained occupations and experience wage gains, while older workers with outdated skills face growing risks of displacement. Firms, in turn, respond to these shifts by increasing investment in capital and technology when hiring workers trained for high-tech environments. You can read the paper here.
Piotr Lewandowski presented findings from his paper “Workers’ Exposure to AI Across Development Stages,” co-authored with SkiLMeeT’s Karol Madoń (IBS) and Albert Park (HKUST). The study measures the extent to which workers worldwide are exposed to artificial intelligence (AI).
The research shows that workers in more developed and digitalised economies are much more exposed to AI. Approximately 49% of the variation in AI exposure across countries is explained by differences in the tasks performed. The study attributes the remaining differences mainly to varying levels of ICT (information and communication technology) use, human capital, and other firm characteristics related to globalisation. You can read the paper here.
