Will robots take 800 million jobs by 2030?

The warning signs of the robot revolution have been flashing ominously in the background – like your neighbour’s gaudy Christmas display put up two months early – however, the reality of this threat is only now coming to the fore.

A new report by McKinsey Global Institute found that up to 800million workers around the world will lose their jobs by 2030 and be replaced by automation – with 20% of current jobs, in the UK, becoming automated over the same period.

The study of 46 countries and 800 occupations found that up to one-fifth of the global workforce will be affected by machines, adding that a third of the workforce in nations including Germany and the US may need to retrain.

However, poor countries including India, will be less affected by emerging technologies,