Third of UK jobs at risk from robots within 20 years

Advanced systems will make digital skills paramount for the future workforce

Advances in technology and robotics will put a third of UK jobs at risk from automation in the next 20 years, a Deloitte report has claimed.

Research carried out in conjunction with the Department of Engineering and Science at the University of Oxford found that 35 percent of existing UK jobs are at risk of being replaced by technology, 30 percent of them in London.

The report explained that lower-paid jobs are more than five times as likely to be replaced by automation than higher-paid jobs. In London this risk increases to eight times as likely.

However, the report also found that additional digital skills will be needed to handle the advanced technology brought in by automation, and that 73 percent of London businesses will increase overall employee headcount to cope with the skills demand.

This shift will prompt the creation of new jobs that put a greater emphasis on digital, management and creative skills.

Jobs previously requiring repetitive processes, along with clerical and support services, will then be replaced by automated systems.

Angus Knowles-Cutler, London senior partner at Deloitte, said that the technological advances over the next 20 years will cause a major shift in the UK labour market, creating challenges and opportunities.

"Unless these changes coming in the next two decades are fully understood and anticipated by businesses, policy makers and educators, there will be a risk of avoidable unemployment and under-employment," he said.

"A widening gap between ‘haves' and ‘have nots' is also a risk as lower skill jobs continue to disappear."

The report revealed that 84 percent of London businesses have said that employees will need to adapt and change over the next decade, placing a greater emphasis on digital skills rather than the ability to speak a foreign language, for example.

The findings of the report may not be surprising, given how technology has shaped industries and subsequent job markets over the past century, notably with the assembly line which revolutionised manufacturing and shifted the nature of work.

However, while automation leads to a need for more digital skills, finding them may be a challenge for businesses looking to exploit cutting-edge technology.

V3 recently explored the problems and opportunities that the UK digital skills gap could generate.