Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
AI developers fear being replaced by their own creation
The Microsoft logo is seen through glass at National Retail Federation in New York City, U.S., Jan. 12. Weekly lunchtime protests outside Microsoft Korea’s Seoul office have turned the company into a symbol of a broader unease gripping white-collar workers here. Reuters-Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
Programmers worry they are training AI to replace them, Microsoft Korea union official says
Every Monday at lunchtime over the past several weeks, a small crowd gathers outside Microsoft Korea’s Seoul office, protesting out of fear that artificial intelligence (AI) could make their jobs obsolete.
The weekly demonstration has become a visible symbol of the deep anxiety gripping white-collar workers, particularly software developers and other employees who are building the very AI systems that could one day replace them.
Union officials say about 50 positions — mostly software developers — have been affected by AI-driven restructuring over the past three years, and they worry that another 10 percent of roughly 550 jobs could be at risk as the technology is rolled out more aggressively.
“For example, in one technical support division that handles phone and email queries from customers using Microsoft products, workers have been told to help train an AI agent that will automatically suggest solutions to problems,” Kwak Chang-yong, secretary-general of the union, told The Korea Times. “It naturally prompts a question, ‘What will happen to me when I complete the training?’”
In the United States, Microsoft, one of the world’s leading AI companies, announced in July 2025 that it would lay off up to 9,000 workers. In Korea, such large-scale cuts would be far more difficult, as labor laws require companies to demonstrate urgent business necessity and follow strict consultation and selection procedures.
But many workers at Microsoft Korea fear that their skills will become obsolete or far less useful, Kwak said. They worry that they may be assigned to work they are unfamiliar with or to no work at all ― a tactic some Korean firms have been accused of using to make workers “leave voluntarily.”
The company’s restructuring extended beyond software developers to include staff in the marketing and human resources departments, according to the official.
“The current AI boom has not been much of a boom for those working in tech companies, at least in terms of job security and salaries,” said Kwak, adding that Microsoft and other tech giants prioritize investing in AI over the workers who develop and implement it.
Union members are demanding better job security and retraining, and have been holding Monday lunchtime protests outside the Seoul office since early December, saying that they will continue until management accepts their demands.
Asked about the union’s complaints and Microsoft’s restructuring plans in the coming years, the company said it is innovating responsibly and within the law here.
“Microsoft creates and sustains high-quality jobs through continuous business investment and innovation, while meeting the expectations and needs of its global customers,” the firm said in a statement sent to The Korea Times. “Our company operates a fair and competitive compensation system that takes into account various factors such as role, performance and market competitiveness, and complies with all applicable laws and regulations in Korea.”
Microsoft is not alone.
Across corporate Korea, workers are increasingly uneasy. The kind of sweeping, AI-driven job displacement many fear has not yet materialized in earnest, but anxiety about it is clearly on the rise.
A 2023 report by the Korea Development Institute, a state-funded think tank, found that nearly 39 percent of today’s jobs involve roles where more than 70 percent of tasks can already be handled by AI. Looking ahead, the report outlines a more sweeping possibility: By around 2030, nearly 90 percent of tasks across about 90 percent of job categories could, in theory, be handled by AI.
AI appears to be particularly harming job prospects for young people.
In a report released in October 2025, the Bank of Korea said that between 2022 and 2025, jobs for people aged 15-29 fell by about 211,000, and 208,000 of those losses were in industries with high AI exposure. The findings suggest that automation is playing a key role in weakening their job prospects, alongside other economic and demographic factors.