Around 1.5m jobs in Britain at risk of being automated - ONS
Approximately 1.5m jobs in England are at a high risk of being automated, the latest analysis from the Office for National Statistics revealed.
Out of 20m jobs in Britain that were analysed by the ONS, around 7.4% were deemed at risk of being replaced by technology such as computer programs, algorithms and robots.
According to the ONS, women, young people, and those who work part-time were most likely to work in roles that were at a high risk of automation.
The report found that 70.2% of the roles at high risk of automation were currently held by women. In addition, people aged 20 to 24 years were most likely to be at risk of having their job automated (15.7%), when compared with other age groups.
Jobs that are highly repetitive and require a fixed routine were more likely to be automated since they could be carried out more efficiently by an algorithm or a machine. This means that the labour market has to change and give people more complex roles that require more skills and are less predictable.
The proportion of jobs at high risk had decreased between 2011 and 2017 from 8.1% to 7.4% and the number of jobs at low and medium risk of automation had risen.
Some jobs, such as self-checkouts at supermarkets and large stores, were already being automated.
Currently the three occupations with the highest probability of automation were waiters and waitresses, shelf fillers and elementary sales occupations.