20% of U.S. jobs are highly vulnerable to automation, economists say

Robots and different automation technologies could regenerate 20% of U.S. jobs implicit the adjacent 2 decades, according to economists. 

Researchers with concern advisory steadfast Oxford Economics said successful a study that astir a 5th of jobs are highly susceptible to specified a shift, noting that tech capable to regenerate astir oregon each of the functions presently performed by quality workers already exists and is commercially available. 

Most susceptible jobs

Around 60% of jobs successful proscription and logistics person the imaginable to beryllium automated implicit the adjacent 20 years, making it the astir susceptible assemblage to automation, according to Oxford Economics. 

"These jobs are not evenly distributed crossed the economy; they are, successful fact, concentrated successful a fig of sectors wherever they marque up an extraordinarily precocious magnitude of the workforce," Oxford said successful the report. "Transport and logistics is (with the objection of agriculture, which is rather tiny and is already highly automated) the assemblage with the highest imaginable for automation, arsenic technologies that person made headlines precocious (self-driving and warehouse automation) person moved from the R&D signifier to the scaling-up phase."

Oxford Economics evaluated much than 800 antithetic occupations to find their level of vulnerability to automation, based connected occupation function, and the availability of tech that tin execute tasks associated with a fixed role. 

Nico Palesch, a elder economist astatine the advisory steadfast and the writer of the report, said the absorption connected AI's interaction connected white-collar employees has tended to overshadow nationalist statement implicit however humanoid robots could interaction carnal work, specified arsenic driving trucks and warehouse work. 

Other sectors that Oxford sees arsenic much susceptible to automation:

• Manufacturing
• Accommodation and catering
• Retail
• Wholesale
• Trade and extraction

Palesch emphasized that a job's vulnerability to automation, adjacent successful the adjacent term, doesn't augur "an imminent jobs illness oregon productivity boom." 

"[T]here are imaginable productivity gains and occupation losses connected that beforehand arsenic well," helium told CBS News.

"Demand for enactment is not going to spell away"

At archetypal glance, edifice and catering jobs mightiness look to necessitate a quality touch. But Palesch noted that self-service kiosks tin fto customers cheque into hotels, portion robots could instrumentality implicit immoderate housekeeping functions.

"That being said, conscionable due to the fact that determination is the imaginable for automation doesn't mean these jobs are each going to beryllium automated this year, adjacent twelvemonth oregon adjacent wrong 5 years. Progress is incremental and ongoing." 

"Restaurants are not firing each cashiers connected time 1 and replacing them. But arsenic it becomes much widespread, they halt hiring cashiers arsenic much," helium added. 

Economists routinely explicit assurance that the latest harvest of emerging technologies, including robots and AI, volition boost the economy's productivity, starring to occupation creation. 

For example, a edifice could unfastened much locations and transportation employees who mightiness antecedently person worked arsenic cashiers to the kitchen, enabling it to service further customers, Palesch said. 

"The request for enactment is not going to spell away, due to the fact that unneurotic with automation comes the request to support robots, plan robots, to thatch radical however to usage robots," helium added.

Edited by Alain Sherter