Over Half of Jobs in UK Sectors Are at Risk of Being Lost to AI
The advancement of technology has seen the increased efficiency of processes and systems across all industries.
The advancement of technology has seen the increased efficiency of processes and systems across all industries. Technological improvements have allowed work to become faster and more accurate and in some cases removed roles altogether. But which industries are the most at risk of having their jobs being taken over by AI?
New data has revealed that in some UK sectors, over half of the jobs are at risk of being taken over by robots within the next 11 years. RS Components have analyzed data from PwC and ONS and found that over 30% of jobs in Britain could be taken over by artificial intelligence (AI).
Advances in technology have increased efficiency in a number of different areas throughout the workforce. However, due to technology being able to work quicker, more accurately and for longer hours, people are seeing more and more jobs being taken over not only by technology but now AI.
Benefits of Automating Jobs
The biggest benefit of automating jobs is said to be the lower running costs, which is attracting a lot of big companies to increase the number of robots in their workforce. What’s more, technology makes complex tasks so much easier and in some cases, removes them altogether – something that could take humans days to complete takes technology minutes or even seconds. As a result of saving money on employment, businesses will see more money left for wealth and investment.
Technology has had an immensely positive impact on the workplace, across all industries. Companies have seen improvements in security, data protection, safety, efficiency and accuracy. However, it is so fast and has improved the workforce so much that it has now taken over a lot of roles within each industry.
Industries Most at Risk
So, which industries are most at risk of being taken over by AI? Over half (54%) of jobs within the catering industry are at risk of being taken over by robots, which is the most threatened industry. This amounts to a staggering 2,418,763 predicted job losses within the UK industry alone by early 2035, which is over 6 times more than the potential job losses in the human health and social work industry.
The arts, entertainment and recreation industry follows closely behind with just under half (45%) of jobs at risk of being taken over by robots. This industry is predicted to lose 992,350 jobs by 2035.
Manufacturing comes in joint second with 45% of the industry’s jobs at risk of being taken over by robots. However, due to the manufacturing industry being bigger than the arts and entertainment industry, the loss of people is far greater in manufacturing, which is expected to see a staggering 1,170,000 potential job losses by 2035. Interestingly, both the arts/entertainment industry as well as the manufacturing sector face less job losses combined than the catering sector. The losses in the catering industry are undeniably monumental and will transform the sector entirely.
How do other industries compare? Here are the top 5 sectors that are most at risk of being taken over by automation:
|
Rank (Most to least at risk) |
Industry |
% of Jobs in the industry at risk |
Number of potential job losses |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1’st |
Chefs & catering industry |
54% |
2,418,763 |
|
2’nd |
Arts Entertainment & recreation |
45% |
992,350 |
|
2’nd |
Manufacturing |
45% |
1,170,000 |
|
3’rd |
Construction |
39% |
1,064,700 |
|
4’th |
Wholesale and retail |
34%
|
986,000 |
|
5’th |
Property housing & estate |
31% |
11,333 |
Sectors that see the least potential risk include jobs where people are interacting or working with other people, such as, the education sector with as little as 9% of education jobs at risk of being replaced. Health and social workers are also at low risk of being taken over by AI as 21% of jobs are at risk.
Industries Least at Risk
The legal profession sees the least amount of job losses in total with only 89,947 potential job losses predicted by 2035. However, the legal sector is the second smallest sector of the ones analyzed, which means that there are 2,328,816 more jobs at risk in the chefs and catering industry than the legal profession.
Automation is not set to take over every job within a sector. It aims to boost productivity by assigning robots to the repetitive and uncomplicated jobs and completing them accurately and quickly. More rewarding, customer-facing and higher value jobs are going to be left open to humans in order to boost productivity.
Nevertheless, jobs are still going to be taken over by AI, simply because there are just some things that AI can do which people cannot. With the number of jobs being taken over by AI increasing, how many jobs will be left for the next generation?
