A new study is warning that technology, automation and robotics will cause a significant shift in the UK labour market in the next twenty years, with one-third (35%) of existing jobs at risk of being replaced.

The research was carried out by Deloitte with Carl Benedikt Frey, of the Oxford Martin School, and Michael A Osborne, of the Department of Engineering Science, at the University of Oxford.

Advances in technology will likely see jobs requiring repetitive processing, clerical and support services, replaced with roles requiring digital, management and creative skills. These trends are already well under way.

The latest research finds that:

• 35% of existing UK jobs at high risk of replacement in next twenty years, 30% in London
• 40% of UK jobs are low or no risk, 51% in London
• Lower-paid jobs over five times more likely to be replaced than higher-paid, almost eight times as likely in London
• 73% of businesses in London plan to increase headcount overall, with advances in technology requiring new skills and a major shift in job types
•  “High risk” jobs are in office and administrative support; sales and services; transportation; construction and extraction; and production.
• “Low or no risk” jobs are in skilled management; financial services; computing, engineering and science; education; legal services; community services; the arts and media; and healthcare.
• Across the UK, jobs paying less than £30,000 a year are nearly five times more likely to be replaced by automation than jobs paying over £100,000. In London, lower paid jobs are eight times more likely to be replaced.

Angus Knowles-Cutler, London senior partner at Deloitte, said:

“Technological advances are likely to cause a major shift in the UK labour market in the coming decades, creating both challenges and opportunities.”

“Unless these changes coming in the next two decades are fully understood and anticipated by businesses, policy makers and educators, there will be a risk of avoidable unemployment and under-employment. A widening gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is also a risk as lower skill jobs continue to disappear.”