More than half of UK temporary jobs are at risk of automation – Report | Business

More than half of the jobs left in the UK are exposed to the highest automation risks as the Covid crisis accelerates technology change in the workplace, leading to layoffs and inequality across the country, according to a report.

A two-year commission on workers and technology, chaired by the Labor MP Yvette Cooper, Found that workers in the sectors hardest hit by the epidemic – such as hospitality, entertainment and retail – face a “double whammy” because their jobs are at risk of being replaced by machines.

Committee results, Organized by the Fabian Association and Community SyndicateIn the first half of this year, it was found that up to 61% of the jobs that were approved were in sectors where automation is most likely to result in job losses.

Rapid adoption of technology during the coronavirus pandemic has helped protect jobs as millions of workers work from home. But while employers have used new techniques to survive, the committee made up of academics and trade unionists said many temporary jobs will not return as a result.

The requirements of physical distancing, telecommuting and online shopping have pushed consumers and companies to make permanent changes to the way they use technology this year, with the pandemic likely to have a lasting impact on business and society. While spending collapsed in some shops, Which resulted in thousands of job cuts By popular employers, online spending has boomed – benefiting companies with fewer employees and highly automated processes.

According to the agency, 5.9 million of the 9.6 million workers were furloughed in the three sectors with the most jobs at risk of automation, according to an analysis of Office for National Statistics Numbers.

The report urges the government to increase spending on job and skills support to help workers retrain them for new job opportunities, and the report said failure to take action could exacerbate social unrest and fuel rising inequality.

She said that low-wage and disadvantaged workers are more likely to work in jobs that are at high risk from automation, with women, younger and older workers, people from ethnic minorities and disabled employees likely to lose.

Advisor, Rishi SonakIt has promised more funding for work and training centers since the outbreak of the pandemic, including 2 billion pounds.Kick start“To help young people find work. However, UNHCR said that additional steps are urgently needed to address the scale of the job crisis.”

It said free training should be offered to all workers who took off this winter’s vacation, before the wage subsidy program ends at the end of March. Among a broad set of recommendations, she also said that the Treasury Department should also expand starting point to support people over the age of 25 and to ensure people have a job, training, or opportunity to return to full-time education.

“The government is not really looking at this double risk, on how to help the economy during the Covid crisis and the people most affected by these rapid changes in technology, to make sure that they are not left behind and lose out,” Cooper said.

“There is a real risk of widening inequality, long-term structural unemployment and low wages, as a result of people not being able to benefit from the economic recovery and improvements in technology that we all want to benefit from.”