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Robots will destroy 85 million jobs as pandemic shifts labour demand: Study

WION Web Team
ZurichUpdated: Oct 21, 2020, 11:18 AM IST
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The study said workers need to learn new skills in the next five years to stay afloat.

According to a World Economic Forum (WEF) study, robots will destroy 85 million jobs as the coronavirus pandemic brings about changes in the workplace worldwide.

The study said at least 300 global companies were planning to digitise work and deploy new technologies as the "COVID-19 accelerates the arrival of the future of work".

The study said workers need to learn new skills in the next five years to stay afloat. The report comes even as sectors across the world have been cutting millions of jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic even as employees work from home. 

US Labour Department's data showed new applications for US jobless benefits rose to a seven-week high of 898,000 last week, an increase of 53,000 amid the pandemic. It was the sharpest rise in two months as the United States attempts to recover from mass layoffs amid the virus.

WEF said job creation is slowing and job destruction is accelerating as companies use technology rather than people for data entry.

However, the silver lining is that 97 million jobs will emerge across industries like artificial intelligence (AI), it said.

"The tasks where humans are set to retain their comparative advantage include managing, advising, decision-making, reasoning, communicating and interacting," it said.
The study said that mid-sized employees were at most risk with at least 43 per cent businesses surveyed set to reduce their workforce due to technology integration