OECD says automation to eliminate fewer jobs than previously thought
04/04/2018
This is the main takeaway from a study of 32 countries that the OECD has carried out.
It defined “high risk” as there being a greater than 70% chance the role would be lost to automation. This equates to 66 million posts in the 32 countries.
“Automation was most likely to affect jobs in the manufacturing industry and agriculture,” the report said.
The OECD’s estimate is less than the number forecast in 2013 by Oxford University. Its influential study said that around 47% of jobs in the US in 2010 and 35% in the UK were at “high risk” of being automated over the following 20 years.
For its part, the OECD estimates the US figure at around 10% and the UK’s at 12%.
It said previous forecasts have overestimated the impact of automation because they had broadly grouped together jobs with the same title. The OECD’s analysis, on the other hand, takes into account the differences between jobs with the same name.
The OECD’s report also said that many workers not at “high risk” of losing their jobs due to automation will see their tasks change significantly. It said this is likely to be the case for a further 32% of jobs.
Share this story:
