UK think tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warns that automation threatens to overhaul an estimated 44% of jobs – or 13.7 million workers – in local economy generating about US$390bn in wages.
According to IPPR’s study, low-paid roles are at the greatest risk, and suggests retraining and investing in technology to combat the future machine economy. The report also encourages the UK government to establish an ethics watchdog to oversee the use of emerging technologies by businesses.
IPPR also urged the authorities to consider new guidelines to company ownership for additional protection of workers. This is because automation could result in higher profits at the expense of employees’ salaries.
Of the US$390bn, both middle- and lower-income workers are likely to lose their jobs to machines, with low-skilled roles especially at risk of fewer hours of labour, or a complete phasing out.
High-skilled employees will continue to have a place in the jobs economy, with retraining promising even higher pay to this group due to a predicted increase in productivity.
“Government is working closely with industry to ensure the benefits of new technologies are felt across different sectors of the economy up and down the country, while creating new high-skill, well-paid jobs,” a spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy told The Guardian.
IPPR did not give a forecast on how long the automation overhaul will take, but cited US research which states an estimate of 10 or 20 years.
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