Almost 1.5million jobs are at risk of being replaced by robots, a new survey by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has revealed.
Women and young people are at higher risk than other demographics in their jobs.
The ONS analysed the jobs of 20 million people from 2011 and 2017 in England and found that that 7.4 per cents are at high risk of automation.
Of these, 70 per cent of the jobs were held by women.
It was also found that 16 per cent of employed 20-to-24-year-olds will be affected.
An assessment of 20 million jobs found the risk of job automation falls as workers get older, and is lowest for those aged 35 to 39, said the ONS.
The areas of England with the lowest risk of jobs being automated in 2017 were said to include Camden in London, Three Rivers in Hertfordshire and Oxford.
Areas of highest risk include Tamworth in Staffordshire, Rutland and South Holland in Lincolnshire.
The three occupations with the highest probability of automation are waiters and waitresses, shelf fillers and sales occupations, according to the report.
The three occupations at the lowest risk of automation were said to be medical practitioners, higher education teaching professionals, and senior professionals of educational establishments.
Reasons for the decrease are unclear, but it is possible that automation of some jobs has already happened, such as supermarket self-checkouts, the ONS added.
PEOPLE MOST AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR JOB TO A ROBOT
Waiters and waitresses
Shelf fillers
Sales occupations
People from:
Tamworth in Staffordshire
Rutland
South Holland in Lincolnshire
PEOPLE LEAST AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR JOB TO A ROBOT
Medical practitioners
University lecturers
Senior educational professionals
People from:
Camden in London
Three Rivers in Hertfordshire
Oxford
A recent study from researchers at Cornell University showed that when humans were put in direct competition with robots, it disheartened participants and made them view themselves as less competent.
One participant admitted that they ‘felt very stressed competing with the robot.’
‘In some rounds, I kept seeing the robot’s score increasing out of the corner of my eye, which was extremely nerve-racking,’ they added.
In an ever-increasing automated workplace, the researchers said that their findings have serious implications.
Guy Hoffman, assistant professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering said: ‘Think about a cashier working side-by-side with an automatic check-out machine, or someone operating a forklift in a warehouse which also employs delivery robots driving right next to them.
‘While it may be tempting to design such robots for optimal productivity, engineers and managers need to take into consideration how the robots’ performance may affect the human workers’ effort and attitudes toward the robot and even toward themselves.’
A report in November 2017 suggested that physical jobs in predictable environments, including machine-operators and fast-food workers, are the most likely to be replaced by robots.
Management consultancy firm McKinsey, based in New York, focused on the amount of jobs that would be lost to automation, and what professions were most at risk.
The report said collecting and processing data are two other categories of activities that increasingly can be done better and faster with machines.
This could displace large amounts of labour – for instance, in mortgages, paralegal work, accounting, and back-office transaction processing.
Conversely, jobs in unpredictable environments are least are risk.
The report added: ‘Occupations such as gardeners, plumbers, or providers of child- and eldercare – will also generally see less automation by 2030, because they are technically difficult to automate and often command relatively lower wages, which makes automation a less attractive business proposition.’
Areas of highest risk include Tamworth in Staffordshire, Rutland and South Holland in Lincolnshire.
