Robots to replace one in five workers by 2030

One in five workers risk losing their jobs to automation by 2030, a new report warns.

Workers who hold jobs in manufacturing, transport and storage are most vulnerable to losing their job to robotised systems, according to the study by think tank Future Advocacy, which focused on the potential impact at local level in the UK’s 650 constituencies.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s Hayes and Harlington constituency has the highest portion of “high-risk jobs”, the report says, with a total of 39.3% of 92,150 workers in danger of losing their job to robots by 2030.

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Meanwhile, Labour’s Ian Murray has the lowest portion of high-risk jobs in his Edinburgh South constituency, at just 21.8%.

But the population doesn’t seem too troubled by the rise of robots, the report claims. Only 2% of a sample of more than 2,000 people classed themselves as “very worried” about losing their jobs to automated systems.

However, says The Guardian, opinions about the overall impact of the artificial intelligence revolution remains “divided”.

“Optimists have said that the lesson from history is that technological change leads to more jobs being created than destroyed,” the newspaper says, “while pessimists have argued that AI (artificial intelligence) is different because the new machines will be able to do intellectual as well as routine physical tasks.”

Future Advocacy’s report urges the Government to create “targeted strategies” that “address future job displacement”. These strategies could include “supporting businesses to retrain employees”, as well as offering “financial and psychological support to people impacted”.

It also calls for improvements to the education system to “maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks created by AI”.