Study Says Robots Could Steal 40% Of US Jobs

Nearly 40% of US jobs could be lost to robots by 2030. Jobs of men are more at risk compared to that of women's.

A study by PricewaterhousCoopers LLP found that 38 percent of US jobs could face automation by 2030, while in Germany it is 35 percent, in the UK 30 percent, and in Japan 21 percent, writes Fortune. The vast financial services industries in the United States makes it more vulnerable to automation.

Reuters via CNBC reports that most of the jobs that will be affected are that of men, specifically 35 percent of their jobs are at risk of disappearing. This is because male workers are employed in sectors that such as transportation and manufacturing which are the jobs that are at risk of being taken over by robots, writes Fortune.

In contrast, more women can be found in service sectors such as education and health. Thus their jobs are less at risk.

This is an opportunity to break down traditional gender roles and gaps in career development, according to the Chief Economist of PwC, John Hawksworth. Men and women will have to be more adaptable and refrain from conforming to stereotypes, he tells the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

What the PwC has to report on a positive note includes the changes in salaries. Researchers say that productivity gains should lead to a rise in average pre-tax incomes.

In other news, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that robots should pay taxes in an attempt to slow down automation. Robots should be taxed for doing the job that humans were doing and being taxed for, he tells Quartz.

If governments tax robots, the funds and the excess labor (from the displacement of jobs) can go to areas where humans are required and where there is not enough income such as special education and care for the elderly.

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