TECHNOLOGY

RISE OF THE MACHINES ? One commonality between automation today and in the Luddite era is that some industries ’ human workforces appear to be at greater risk than others .

PwC has released research claiming that up to 30 percent of UK jobs ( 10.43 million ) could potentially be at risk by 2030 , with this rising to 35 percent in Germany and 38 percent in the USA . Japan , interestingly , is found to be at 21 percent .

Much of this risk is carried by a group of sectors that includes transportation and storage ( where 56 percent of jobs are at risk ), manufacturing ( 46 percent ), wholesale / retail ( 44 percent ) and admin ( 37 percent ).

Has the Luddite fallacy finally come true ? PwC does include some disclaimers , and ultimately concludes that the net impact of automation on total employment remains unclear . Indeed , it says that “ new automation technologies in areas like AI and robotics will both create some totally new jobs in the digital technology area and , through productivity gains , generate additional wealth and spending that will support additional jobs of existing kinds , primarily in services sectors that are less easy to automate ”.

JOB CREATORS ? Other research carries a wholly more optimistic outlook from the outset .

20 July 2017