Will AI Replace HR Jobs in Cambodia? Here’s What to Do in 2025

Cambodian HR professionals should pay attention to AI in 2025 because regional reports show automation is already reshaping jobs across the East Asia & Pacific region, with routine manual and repeatable tasks most at risk and new digital roles emerging in their place - see the World Bank report on automation and digitalization reshaping Cambodia's jobs market for context World Bank report: Automation and digitalization reshaping Cambodia jobs market.

Local analysis also highlights policy, infrastructure and skills gaps that make targeted upskilling urgent for firms and government alike AI landscape in Cambodia: current status and future trends (digital policy analysis).

Practical HR automation can cut admin, reduce paper and speed onboarding, but without deliberate reskilling Cambodia's large informal workforce remains vulnerable - a point underscored by recent industry guidance on HR automation in Cambodia MiHCM guide to HR automation in Cambodia.

The takeaway: plan low-cost pilots, map which tasks to automate, and invest in workforce training now so HR stays human-led and future-ready.

The 2025 HR automation landscape is no distant theory - global firms are actively reshaping work and Cambodian HR teams need to plan for the consequences: trackers document tens of thousands of tech cuts this year and analysts warn that

“627 tech workers lose their jobs every day in 2025,”

a vivid sign that AI-driven restructuring is real and rapid (see the TechCrunch 2025 tech layoffs list and the FinalRoundAI mid‑2025 layoffs analysis).

Back-office functions are squarely in the crosshairs - reports cite large HR reductions and AI tools like IBM's AskHR handling routine payroll and leave questions (claiming high coverage of simple queries), so tasks that are rule-based and repeatable are easiest to automate (see the iScale report on IBM AskHR automation).

For HR teams in Cambodia that means a clear opportunity: automate repetitive admin to cut delays and paperwork, but pair pilots with targeted reskilling so employees aren't simply replaced - think fast, low-cost trials that free HR to focus on complex people work that AI can't do.

“The clear focus as a company is to define the AI wave and empower all our customers to succeed in the adoption of this transformative technology.”

For Cambodia's HR teams the clearest near-term casualties are the repeatable, rules-based parts of hiring and admin: AI-powered CV screening and shortlisting (already rolled out locally in JobNet's AI Best Match and smarter ATS filters) will speed candidate selection and cut the time spent sifting resumes, while chatbots and scheduling assistants can handle first‑round queries and interview bookings so recruiters focus on final interviews instead of logistics (JobNet AI Best Match advanced AI CV screening and ATS filters announcement).

Routine compliance paperwork, payroll calculations and standard onboarding checklists are also ripe for automation, but they sit alongside legally sensitive tasks - background and criminal‑record checks are permitted in Cambodia yet require candidate consent and careful handling of data, so automation must be paired with human oversight (Cambodia background check legal rules and best practices).

Local hiring guides underline that employment contracts, tax withholding, and social security filings demand accuracy and context, meaning automation should shave hours off admin without outsourcing final decisions (Guide to hiring employees in Cambodia: contracts, tax withholding, and social security filing requirements).

The practical takeaway: automate the predictable tasks that free time for relationship‑driven work, because empathy and compliance still need a human touch - think less paper, more people.

In Cambodia the jobs most likely to remain firmly human are those that centre on judgment, relationships and context - HR business partners who translate strategy into people decisions, employee‑relations specialists who handle sensitive compliance and consent, L&D and reskilling coaches who teach technical and socio‑emotional skills, and recruiters who assess cultural fit and final interviews rather than just CV matches; these roles demand the professional judgement and interpersonal skills the World Bank says are critical as automation reshapes the region's labour market World Bank report on automation and jobs in East Asia and the Pacific.

Vendors and local guides urge using HR automation to cut paperwork so human teams can focus on high‑value work like succession planning and employee experience - exactly the skills MiHCM highlights as hard to automate MiHCM guide to HR automation in Cambodia.

Mercer's research on work redesign reinforces this: AI can crunch data, but humans must curate strategy, ethical oversight and trust‑building - picture AI handing a dossier while the HR lead listens for the one sentence that reveals real motivation.

“An MSL is preparing for a meeting with a group of oncologists. Where in the past they would have spent hours researching the latest data on a new cancer therapy, today the MSL can leverage AI to analyze datasets and extract clinical information in a matter of minutes. This allows the MSL to spend more time anticipating the needs and concerns of these oncologists, enabling them to foster more meaningful discussions that can potentially lead to improved patient outcomes.”

IBM's story offers practical, local lessons for Cambodian HR teams: treat the headlines as a warning but not a script - automation like AskHR can swallow huge volumes of routine work (reports note AskHR handled over 11.5 million interactions in 2024 and reportedly covered a very large share of simple queries), yet companies that automated also redirected hiring toward creative, technical and strategic roles, showing automation often replaces tasks more than whole careers; see the iScale analysis of IBM layoffs 2024 and the TechGig report on AskHR's impact 2025.

For Cambodia that means pilot low-cost automations for payroll, leave and FAQs, pair each pilot with clear reskilling pathways, and use any efficiency gains to fund L&D and relationship-driven HR functions - communication and trust-building will be the difference between a smooth transition and a morale crisis.

But the deeper truth is that AI is replacing tasks, not entire roles - at least not yet.

Risks, ethics and regulation matter for Cambodia because the real-world failures of hiring AI show how quickly automation can lock in unfair outcomes unless HR teams demand transparency, audits and human oversight: Amazon's recruiting engine famously learned to downgrade résumés that mentioned “women” (even penalising a candidate for “women's rugby”), a concrete reminder that biased training data reproduces existing workforce imbalances - see the ACLU analysis of Amazon's automated hiring tool discrimination ACLU analysis of Amazon's automated hiring tool discrimination and the BBC report on Amazon's abandoned “sexist AI” trial BBC report on Amazon's abandoned “sexist AI” trial.

Legal frameworks and enforcement matter too: regulators and civil‑society groups call for impact assessments and EEOC‑style guidance because disparate‑impact claims can arise even without intent, and cities such as New York now require bias audits before deployment - a useful model for Cambodian employers and policymakers.

Practical takeaways for HR in Cambodia are simple and urgent: insist on vendor transparency, run small bias‑testing pilots, retain human review for sensitive decisions, and tie any efficiency gains to reskilling and inclusion measures so automation reduces paperwork without shrinking opportunity for underrepresented groups.

“They literally wanted it to be an engine where I'm going to give you 100 resumes, it will spit out the top five, and we'll hire those.”

Practical upskilling in 2025 means choosing short, applied learning that turns fear into usable skills: sign HR staff up for Lotus Academy's No‑Code Summer Workshop Series in Phnom Penh to build smart chatbots, automate workflows and prototype data dashboards without coding (Lotus Academy No‑Code Summer Workshop Series), pair that with a compact prompt‑engineering course like Upskillist's ChatGPT Prompt Mastery to make AI outputs reliable and auditable (Upskillist ChatGPT Prompt Mastery course), and use a clear local playbook to pilot small automations tied to reskilling pathways so efficiency gains fund L&D rather than headcount cuts (see the Nucamp AI Essentials for Work step-by-step implementation guide for Cambodian HR teams).

Prioritise hands‑on projects, cohort learning and vendor transparency: a single concrete deliverable (an FAQ chatbot or an automated onboarding checklist) helps translate training into measurable time savings and protects employees from sudden displacement while building internal AI literacy.

Employers in Cambodia should treat Human+AI HR as a staged, people-first program: start by mapping work and “fixing the plumbing” so AI tackles repeatable tasks (onboarding checklists, payroll calculations, FAQs) while humans keep judgment‑heavy work like employee relations and DEI oversight; practical pilots should be small, measurable and tied to reskilling so efficiency gains fund learning and career transitions rather than cuts.

Embed HR‑IT collaboration from day one - design hybrid teams where digital “centaurs” (people plus AI) amplify productivity, run bias and consent checks before scaling, and measure outcomes with business metrics like time‑to‑productivity not just time‑to‑hire.

Use vendor transparency and short feedback loops to iterate: pilot an FAQ bot or an automated onboarding flow, audit accuracy, train HR staff to manage agents, then broaden tools that demonstrably free time for coaching, org design and ethical governance.

For playbooks and change design, lean on frameworks that reallocate tasks to agents vs. humans and focus HR on high‑value advisory roles, turning disruption into a chance to reinvent the function rather than merely shrink it; see Josh Bersin's guide to HR reinvention and FPOV's Humalogy approach for practical frameworks to follow Josh Bersin on HR reinvention and FPOV on Humalogy and hybrid workforces, because a single, well‑run pilot that frees even one day a week per HR person can feel like adding a whole new team.

94% of typical HR questions are now answered by its AI agent, and the role of HR Business Partner is all but eliminated except for very senior leaders.

Keep pilots tiny, measurable and locally grounded: pick one repeatable HR pain‑point (onboarding checklists, FAQ bots or CV shortlisting), choose a no‑code/low‑code tool so technical blockers don't stall adoption, set a specific mini‑goal (for example: save one day a week per HR person on onboarding tasks), and lock in a 30–90 day test with clear before/after metrics and frontline sponsors from recruitment or payroll.

Design the pilot to scale - MIT/Nanda research shows most pilots never make it to production, so treat vendors as partners, demand customization and require outcome guarantees rather than glossy demos (see the MIT Nanda pilot findings via BankInfoSecurity).

Train a small cohort with hands‑on exercises from beginner guides, use easy prompts and FAQ templates to get rapid feedback, and document lessons so wins fund the next reskilling step; Employment Hero's starter checklist is a practical how‑to for the first workflow and reminds teams that most business‑grade AI tools are no‑code or low‑code (ideal for Cambodian SMEs).

For ready templates and a Cambodia‑focused playbook, use the Nucamp step‑by‑step AI implementation for Cambodian HR teams and iterate fast - one tight pilot that frees even a single day per week can feel like adding a whole new team.

"Do I need to code to use AI?"

Clear, culturally fluent communication is the backbone of successful AI change management in Cambodia: pilots, training and messaging must speak Khmer and meet people where they are, not just mirror Western toolkits - homegrown Khmer AI projects like SEA LION and local LLM work are already showing how language-first design lets a farmer in Kampong Thom ask a Ministry chatbot a question in plain Khmer and get an instant, useful reply, a vivid example of how access and trust are built (Homegrown Khmer AI redefining Cambodia's future).

NGOs and community groups are practical partners for this shift: organisations such as PEPY report using AI to draft communications, streamline grant writing and embed AI lessons into curricula, proving that hands‑on, low‑cost training plus a growth‑mindset culture can make change feel like empowerment rather than threat (PEPY guide for NGOs preparing for AI in Cambodia).

For Cambodian HR teams and employers, the short checklist is simple - communicate in Khmer, run tiny local pilots, partner with NGOs and startups for outreach and training, invest in digital literacy and infrastructure, and set clear ethical guardrails so inclusion, cultural preservation and consent are woven into every step of the change process.

Conclusion: a practical 90‑day action plan for Cambodian HR teams starts small, legal, and people‑first - use the 30‑60‑90 model as the spine. Days 0–7 (pre‑onboarding): publish clear Khmer welcome packs, register employees with MLVT and confirm written contracts and notice‑period rules to stay compliant (Hiring in Cambodia legal guide (MLVT & contracts)); launch one tiny pilot (FAQ chatbot or automated onboarding checklist) with measurable goals.

Days 8–30 (first month): run hands‑on training for HR staff on prompt use and vendor checks, use microlearning to cut time‑to‑productivity and reduce early churn (remember: poor onboarding drives many new hires away) - follow a structured 30‑60‑90 roadmap for milestones (90‑day strategic onboarding guide).

Days 31–60: evaluate pilot results, run bias and consent audits, scale the workflows that saved time and pair each efficiency gain with a funded reskilling path.

Days 61–90: embed new KPIs (time‑to‑productivity, compliance accuracy, employee satisfaction), formalize manager/buddy check‑ins, and enroll HR leads in a practical AI course to sustain skills (consider the Nucamp AI Essentials for Work pathway for applied, workplace AI training Nucamp AI Essentials for Work registration & syllabus).

One tight, well‑measured pilot that frees a day a week per HR person can feel like adding a whole new team - so automate the routine, protect judgment‑heavy work, and make the first 90 days count.