A new global analysis of artificial intelligence-driven job displacement has found that Malta faces the highest exposure to automation worldwide, with 46.6% of its workforce—about 155,000 jobs—identified as being at risk of replacement by AI systems.
The study, conducted by construction scheduling platform Planera, mapped employment data across countries against sector-wise automation probabilities in industries such as hospitality, retail, finance and professional services. It ranked economies based on the share of workers employed in roles considered highly susceptible to machine substitution.
Malta, with a total workforce of around 332,800, topped the list due to its heavy reliance on administrative services, tourism and hospitality—sectors where routine and standardised tasks are increasingly being automated.
Canada ranked second, with 44.9% of jobs at risk, translating to nearly 3.98 million workers out of a total workforce of 8.86 million. Greece followed closely at 44.84%, with about 2.48 million workers exposed, while Cyprus recorded 44.77% exposure, affecting approximately 227,600 jobs.
Luxembourg (43.82%), the Netherlands (43.67%), the United States (43.63%), Spain (43.35%), Belgium (43.28%) and Italy (42.22%) completed the top ten list of most exposed economies.
While smaller economies such as Malta and Cyprus show the highest proportional risk, the United States stands out in absolute terms, with nearly 96 million workers in roles considered vulnerable to AI-driven automation—the largest at-risk workforce globally.
The findings come as companies accelerate adoption of AI tools to streamline operations. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 16,000 international roles, with automation increasingly handling tasks previously performed by human workers.
According to the report, service-heavy economies face disproportionate exposure because roles in hospitality, retail and administrative work often involve repetitive tasks that AI systems can replicate more efficiently. In contrast, manufacturing sectors have already undergone significant automation over previous decades.
A Planera-affiliated researcher said, “People think factory workers face the biggest automation threat, but the data shows service jobs are more at risk. Manufacturing was already automated decades ago, so the workers left are doing tasks robots can’t handle yet. But admin assistants, retail clerks, and hospitality staff are all doing repetitive work that AI can learn quickly.”