A survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found that 85 million jobs will become redundant within the next five years due to the rapid growth in automation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic
The survey — titled The Future of Jobs Report 2020 — studied 15 industry sectors across 26 advanced and emerging countries.
The research aimed to shed light on how pandemic-related disruptions have accelerated the arrival of the future of work.
“Automation, in tandem with the COVID-19 recession, is creating a ‘double disruption’ scenario for workers,” WEF wrote.
“In addition to the current disruption from the pandemic-induced lockdowns and economic contraction, technological adoption by companies will transform tasks, jobs, and skills by 2025.”
50% of employers reported that they will accelerate automation in their businesses, while over 80% are set to expand the digitisation of their work processes.
This will cause some jobs that have been lost within this period to never come back, and those that do will require new ways of working and new skills. Read more via Says