Are there any “digital employees” around you? When an employee's position is replaced by AI, is it reasonable for the company to fire the employee on the grounds that "the objective situation has changed significantly"? During the two sessions in Shanghai this year, the topic of job replacement by AI became one of the hot topics discussed by members of the Federation of Trade Unions.
The wave of AI is surging, and what is happening now is not only a technological change, but also a deep reconstruction of the workplace. The iteration and progress of AI bring new opportunities. At this historical intersection, the labor market and labor relations take on new characteristics. How can the current workers’ rights and interests protection system further adapt to the new era of algorithm-driven, human-machine collaborative smart economy? On February 5, reporters from Workers’ Daily interviewed people from all walks of life on the above-mentioned topics.
Some employees were fired because their jobs were replaced by AI
In the workplace, are there any “digital employees” around you?
Jin Hailong, general manager of Zhaopin Recruitment Shanghai Branch, said in an interview with Workers Daily,"Digital employees" have gradually moved from concept to reality, playing an increasingly important role in corporate operations.
According to Jin Hailong, Zhaopin recruitment statistics show that 10.3% of working people said that the company has "digital people" employees. Among them, 47.4% of the "digital people" employees are responsible for external service and marketing functions such as anchors, customer service, and shopping guides; the rest are responsible for internal collaboration and efficiency improvement functions, such as providing professional services such as legal support, financial analysis, and content generation. Some "digital people" employees can even support work in strategic and decision-making areas such as data analysis.
The reporter noticed that while "digital employees" improve production efficiency, they also have a certain impact on the job structure. In December 2025, a typical case released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security attracted widespread social attention.
In this case, Liu was responsible for the traditional manual map data collection business in a technology company for many years. At the beginning of 2024,The company decided to fully shift its business to AI-led automated data collection, and eliminated Liu's department and corresponding positions.Subsequently, the company terminated the labor contract with Liu on the grounds that "the objective circumstances on which the labor contract was concluded have changed significantly, making it impossible to continue to perform the labor contract."
In this regard, the labor arbitration committee that heard the case pointed out that the introduction of AI technology by the company involved was a technological innovation proactively implemented by the company to adapt to market competition. Although this move may bring about adjustments to the job structure, it does not have the characteristics of force majeure and unpredictability required by "objective circumstances." The company terminates the labor contract on the grounds that the position is replaced by AI. In essence, it transfers the normal risk of technology iteration to the workers.
Ultimately, the Labor Arbitration Commission determined that the employer's cancellation of positions due to the introduction of AI technology did not constitute a "significant change in the objective circumstances upon which the labor contract was concluded," and that the company's behavior constituted an illegal termination.
It is difficult for existing laws to fully apply to new AI scenarios
"The labor disputes caused by AI replacement of jobs highlight the contradiction between current legal policies and technological changes." Lu Jingbo, a member of the Shanghai CPPCC Federation of Trade Unions and director of Shanghai Jiangjia Law Firm, told the Workers' Daily reporter.
In Lu Jingbo's view, some companies face urgent needs for technological upgrading to enhance competitiveness, and some workers also encounter employment problems due to skills disparity. "Relevant labor disputes have exposed three problems, namely the lack of clarity in the rules for determining whether jobs being replaced by AI is a legally prescribed situation, the lack of relevant rules for the handling of labor relations after jobs are replaced by AI, and the lack of response mechanisms to the employment impacts brought about by AI applications, etc."
The reporter learned that according to the provisions of the Labor Contract Law, if the objective circumstances on which the labor contract was concluded have changed significantly, making it impossible to perform the labor contract, and after negotiation between the employer and the employee, if they fail to reach an agreement on changing the content of the labor contract, the employer may terminate the labor contract and pay economic compensation.
Lu Jingbo further analyzed,The expression of “objective circumstances” in the former Ministry of Labor’s “Explanation on Several Articles” is no longer suitable for the current economic and social development situation.At the same time, the current regulations do not have relevant identification standards for "major technological innovations" in Article 41 of the Labor Contract Law, which has led to disputes in practice over whether the replacement of employees' positions by AI constitutes the above situation, exacerbating the uncertainty in handling labor relations.
In addition, some companies also face legal application difficulties when dealing with related issues. "Currently, there are no special regulations or guidelines to clarify the procedural obligations that enterprises should perform in such situations. Enterprises often choose to directly terminate labor contracts to avoid related operating risks, which is not conducive to promoting the smooth transition of human resources in technological transformation." Lu Jingbo believes that the absence of some rules not only increases enterprise employment risks, but also damages the legitimate rights and interests of workers, and it is urgent to regulate them through system design.
Improve legal application rules in the context of AI
Lu Jingbo suggested that the boundaries for identifying “significant changes in objective circumstances” and “major technological innovations” should be clarified.Emphasizing that companies’ initiative to introduce AI due to technology upgrades is not an objective situation that can fully exempt them from liability,And strengthen the procedural obligations such as democratic consultation and job transfer training that enterprises must perform before technological substitution.
"It is recommended to issue special guidelines on the handling of labor relations when AI replaces jobs." Lu Jingbo said that for AI replacement jobs that neither meet "significant changes in objective circumstances" nor constitute "major technological innovations," the human resources and social security department can formulate special guidelines to clarify the procedures and substantive norms that enterprises should follow.
From the perspective of workers, more and more employees want to actively participate in the AI wave. According to Jin Hailong, Zhaopin recruitment survey data shows that 69.9% of working people hope that companies will strengthen training on "the integration of AI and their own work", 54.1% of working people hope that companies will carry out "AI tool use" training, and more than 30% of working people show strong interest in "AI ethics and safety" and "advanced AI technology development" training.
"This transformation from passive adaptation to active requirement to master technology is the inevitable result of human-machine collaborative evolution. It also requires enterprises to follow this trend, incorporate AI training into talent development strategies, and build a systematic intelligent learning system." Jin Hailong said.
"It is urgent to build a support mechanism for employment resilience under technological change." Lu Jingbo believes that a collaborative mechanism for technological change and employment security should be built to enhance workers' cross-job capabilities by establishing a special transformation support fund and promoting the establishment of regional digital skills retraining centers.
"At the same time, the 'social impact assessment of technology application' should be included in the pre-processing procedures for major science and technology projects or enterprise intelligent transformation, requiring enterprises to submit employment impact reports when the deployment of AI technology may have a significant impact on employment, and negotiate solutions with labor unions or employee representatives to minimize the impact of AI application on employment." Lu Jingbo said.