Robots will create more jobs than they take, says PwC

Health and education will benefit from the move to automation, but manufacturing will be hard-hit

Job losses are a commonly-cited factor against investing in automation, but a new report claims that more jobs will be created than lost through robot adoption.

According to an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a total of 7 million UK jobs will be replaced by robots over the next two decades - but 7.2 million jobs will be created.

Robots, if built and programmed correctly, can perform certain tasks much better than humans. They are currently a fundemental tool used by many large companies, such as Amazon; the retail giant's warehouses are almost completely automated, replacing human beings in stacking and picking tasks.

However, the introduction of robots will also create many jobs, and some of those in the highest demand will be completely new.

Many jobs just cannot be performed by robots, such as in education, because people provide the "human touch": humans feel more comfortable being taught by other humans rather than robots.

That said, some sectors will be particularly hard-hit by the move to automation. Manufacturing jobs will have fallen by an estimated 25 per cent by 2037. Alongside manufacturing comes finance and insurance (down seven per cent) and wholesale and retail trade (down three per cent).

The biggest winner in terms of jobs created will be health and social work, with a large increase of 22 per cent. Following behind is information and communication (up eight per cent) and education (up six per cent). All figures are predicted for 2037 by PwC.

UK AI leader at PwC, Euan Cameron, said: "People are understandably worried about the impact of AI on jobs, and businesses and government need to address these concerns head on.

"It's likely that the fourth industrial revolution will favor those with strong digital skills, as well as capabilities like creativity and teamwork which machines find it harder to replicate."

During the next 20 years, the jobs in high demand will change drastically and new skills will need to be aquired to match the new capabilities. The future seems dark for some but bright for many more.