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Robotics and automation to replace 800 million human workers by 2030, says new report

The global effects of robotics and automation technologies is forecast to include the removal of as many as 800 million people from their jobs by 2030, according to a new report. Seventy million of them will be in the US. 

McKinsey, the consultancy firm which conducted the research, says the development of automation technologies is “sparked much public concern”.

In its report, Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce Transitions in a Time of Automation, McKinsey Global Institute says that, while automation is not a new phenomenon and fears surrounding its effects date back centuries, the situation seems different now. 

“Rapid recent advances in automation technologies, including artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and robotics are now raising the fears anew – and with new urgency,” says McKinsey.

The consultancy adds, however, that many new types of jobs will be created in the next few decades.

 

“To achieve good outcomes, policymakers and business leaders will need to embrace automation’s benefits and, at the same time, address the worker transitions brought about by these technologies,” says McKinsey.

“These changes will challenge current educational and workforce training models, as well as business approaches to skill-building.”

McKinsey adds: “Another priority is rethinking and strengthening transition and income support for workers caught in the crosscurrents of automation.”