A study has found that 35% of UK jobs are under threat from computers and robots over the next two decades, which is over one in three jobs.
The report, by the University of Oxford in collaboration with Deloitte, warned that the move would impact low-paid, repetitive processing, clerical and support service jobs. Individuals earning below £30,000 per year are five times more likely to be replaced by machines than those paid around £100,000.
Deloitte senior partner Angus Knowles-Cutler said: Major advances in technology create a number of challenges for London, but also present a range of opportunities.
"Unless the changes that are 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 the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is also a risk as lower skill jobs continue to disappear."
40% of UK jobs are at low or no risk, with workers in London seeming to be safer than those in the rest of the nation, as the risk drops to 51%.
Jobs in skilled management, financial services, computing, engineering and science, education, legal services, community services, the arts and media, and healthcare are claimed to be least probable to be replaced by machines.
However, office and administrative support, sales and services, transport, construction, extraction and mining and production jobs are at the highest risk of replacement.
The research found that the companies need to create a workforce that can serve the high-skilled positions, so that technology is unlikely to take over if they want to assure new jobs surpass those being slashed.
