An analysis firm recently predicted that, by 2030, robots will gradually replace up to 20 million manufacturing jobs. The Oxford Economics says people displaced will realise that automation has replaced a lot of other similar jobs.

 

Although, they think an increase in automation will boost jobs and economic growth. This means that for each new industrial robot made, it wipes out 1.6 manufacturing jobs. Estimates say that the least skilled of these jobs take the biggest hit.

 

 

The analysts say regions where people have lower skills and higher unemployment rates are more likely to experience more job losses to robots. They said workers who leave manufacturing often get new jobs in other sectors. The sectors include maintenance, transport and admin.

 

On average, robots installed in lower-skilled regions may likely to affect jobs more than those in higher-skilled regions. The consensus has been that robots will put almost everyone out of their jobs as machines become more intelligent.

 

Job distinctions

Robots may replace factory workers. But white collar jobs also face exposure to vulnerability from automation. However, this could also mean that for every job lost, there are more created. This is because these machines still need human input to function efficiently.

 

Workers in the manufacturing industry are presumably the ones to take the biggest hit. Machines may actually replace lots of factory workers in China.

 

Transportation is also one sector where jobs will be affected. This is especially with the advent of driverless taxis and cars. The corporate sector will have to deal with massive staff cut. This is due to the fact that the majority of the skilled jobs done by many can be streamlined to just a few.

 

 

Oxford Economics also explains that there is a high risk of a job getting wiped out if it is very repetitive. It makes it easier for robots to replace the task. However, humans will maintain jobs that require social intelligence and creativity for a long time, according to the analysis.

 

It said about 1.7 million jobs had been lost to robots since the year 2000. This includes 260,000 in the United States, and 400,000 in Europe, and 550,000 in China. They predict that China will have the most manufacturing automation by 2030.