A THIRD of jobs in the UK could be at risk through automation from robots and artificial intelligence (AI) by the early 2030s, according to a new report.
But PwC’s Economic Outlook said that in many cases the nature of the jobs would change rather than the posts disappearing. The study said the UK, with 30 per cent, has a lower proportion of existing jobs at potential high risk of automation than the US (38 per cent) and Germany (35 per cent), but more than Japan (21 per cent). Sectors at most risk were transport, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, while risk is lower in education, health and social work.
Chief economist John Hawksworth, said: “Just because it is technically feasible to replace a human worker with a robot, doesn’t mean it’s economically attractive to do so. Levels of automation will depend on the relative cost and productivity of robots compared to human workers in carrying out different types of tasks.”
The same study found Scotland’s economy is set to underperform the UK average this year with 1.3 per cent GVA growth and 1.1 per cent growth in 2018. The UK average will be 1.6 and 1.4 per cent. Lindsay Gardiner, from PwC in Scotland said: “The welcoming news is that the UK and Scotland look set to avoid recession over the coming years and that there will be growth but a number of factors such as oil price and completion of major infrastructure projects mean the growth is at the lower end of the scale for the UK regions.”
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