World Economic Forum: Robots Will Eliminate 5 Million Jobs By 2020

By Joseph Jankowski

According to research by the World Economic Forum over five million jobs will be lost due to developments in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics and other technological changes.

WEF founder Klaus Schwab and managing board member Richard Samans wrote in the newly released report titled “The Future of Jobs” that an estimated 7 million jobs will be lost with just 2 million gained as a result of technological change in 15 major developed and emerging economies.

The findings are taken from a survey of 15 economies covering about 1.9 billion workers, or about 65 percent of the world’s total workforce, reports Bloomberg Business.

Jill Ward of Bloomberg Business reports:

The blurred lines between physical, digital and biological spheres amount to a Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to the WEF, which will address the idea as the idea at its annual meeting of policy makers, academics and economists in Davos, Switzerland. It’s already a hot topic thanks in part to books such as ‘The Second Machine Age’ and ‘The Rise of The Robots,’ while Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane has warned that the millions of jobs at risk from automation are creating issues officials need to address.

“To prevent a worst-case scenario — technological change accompanied by talent shortages, mass unemployment and growing inequality — reskilling and upskilling of today’s workers will be critical,” the authors said. “It is simply not possible to weather the current technological revolution by waiting for the next generation’s workforce to become better prepared.”

According to the WEF’s report, administrative and office jobs will account for two-thirds of the losses, with “routine white-collar office functions at risk of being decimated.”

Computer, mathematical, architecture and engineering-related fields will see gains in job opportunities.

The countries covered by the survey included Brazil, Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S.

“It is critical that businesses take an active role in supporting their current workforces through re-training, that individuals take a proactive approach to their own lifelong learning and that governments create the enabling environment, rapidly and creatively, to assist these efforts,” the authors said.

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Joseph Jankowski writes for PlanetFreeWill.com