One-Third of US Workforce Could be Unemployed by 2030
A new eight-month study, recently published by management consultancy firm McKinsey, has confirmed what many have feared was inevitable: automation may force approximately 73 million American workers into unemployment by 2030.
“In total, up to 800 million people around the world will find themselves out of work thanks to the advances of robotics,” IFLScience.com reported. “The wealthiest nations in the world are most at risk here.”
While some individuals may be lucky enough to retain their jobs, there will still be the fear that they too will eventually become replaceable. Others will have to seek employment in different fields entirely. On a positive note, the study explains that the increased implementation of automation “will create new occupations that do not exist today, much as technologies of the past have done.”
The study compares the transition to the previous US shift from agriculture to “an industrial-services economny in the early 1900s”, Axios reports. However, this time “it’s not young people leaving farms, but mid-career workers who need new skills.” It also notes that attempting to slow the automation revolution is futile.
