Half Of U.K. Jobs At Risk From Robots, Warns Bank of England

As many as 15 million jobs in Britain are at risk of being taken over by robots in the coming decades, warns Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England. According to Haldane, as technology improves, there is a greater likelihood that “the space remaining for uniquely human skills could shrink further.”

15 million U.K. jobs could be lost to an age of robots

While speaking at Trade Union Congress in London, Andy Haldane said that the new generation of increasingly creative robots could replace “at risk” jobs over the next 20 years, such as those held by accountants and sales people. Haldane elaborated how technological advancements will take over employment through the years and how these computers will grab not only physical but also intellectual labor.

While unveiling the bank’s new statistics based on historic trends in the market economy, he warned the Trade Union Congress that half of U.K. workers might find themselves unemployed in the coming decades. The results of the Bank of England study reveal that jobs which entail “administrative, clerical and production tasks” are at most risk for replacement.