Dystopian premonitions of robot overlords taking over our jobs might actually come true, according to a new report by Deloitte.
Teaming up with researchers at the University of Oxford's Department of Engineering and Science, the report finds that over the next 20 years, up to 35 percent of UK jobs risk being replaced by our mechanical counterparts as advances in technology continue.
Of the 35 percent of UK jobs at risk, the report forecasts that 30 percent of them will be in London.
The jobs that are mostly likely to be scuppered are the low-paid and low-skilled professions. The report predicts that people earning less than £30,000 a year are five times more likely to see their jobs snapped up by machines than those receiving £100,000.
Londoners are once again worse off with this risk being eight times more likely in the big city.
While the statistics are looking bad for London dwellers, it's not all doom and gloom. London has fewer manufacturing jobs and more sectors, which require more complex skills and creative flair -- something that robots and machines can't as easily mimick yet.
According to the report, the advanced technology set to grace this country in the next 20 years means that additional digital skills will be required by London businesses. This means that 73 percent of city businesses will actually employ more humans to handle the increasing technological demands.
Jobs requiring repetitive actions will, therefore, be replaced by machines, while new jobs with more emphasis on creative, digital and management skills will be created. "Unless these changes coming in the next two decades are fully understood and anticipated by businesses, policy makers and educators, there will be a risk of avoidable unemployment and under-employment," said London senior partner at Deloitte, Angus Knowles-Cutler. "A widening gap between 'haves' and 'have nots' is also at risk as lower skill jobs continue to disappear," he added.
According to the report, 84 percent of London businesses say that their employers skills must change over the next ten years, with "digital know-how" becoming increasingly more important than "support and clerical work" and "foreign languages".
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
