Millions of jobs are likely to vanish or change drastically over the next few years as AI and automation gain momentum.
According to the Future of Jobs report released by the World Economic Forum, around 92 million (around 8% of current jobs) roles are expected to become completely obsolete by 2030. Workers are also likely to see around two-fifths of their existing skill sets transform or become outdated in the next five years. The WEF report also predicted that there would be around 170 million new jobs cropping up during this period.
A report by the McKinsey Global Institute also painted a bleak picture for the job market — noting that AI and automation could take away as many as 12 million jobs in the US and Europe within the next five years. This could in turn prompt millions of existing professionals to change their career paths.
Which jobs will see a decline by 2030?
According to the WEF report, clerical and secretarial workers are expected to see the largest decline in absolute numbers. Businesses expect the fastest-declining roles to include postal service clerks, bank tellers and data entry clerks. The list also includes cashiers and ticket clerks, administrative assistants and executive secretaries. Printing and related trades workers, material-recording and stock-keeping clerks, accounting, bookkeeping and payroll clerks, door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, graphic designers, claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators, legal officials, legal secretaries and telemarketers were also projected to see a major decline.