Robots Will Do More Work Than Humans by 2025

Machines and algorithms will do more current tasks than humans by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2018. But this same robot revolution will still create 58 million net new jobs in the next five years, the same research has found.

Based on the operational realities of those at the frontlines of deciding on how to develop technological and human capital at the largest global companies in the world, the report aims to provide a nuanced, realistic view of the near future of work. Unlike long-term predictions and scenarios, a focus on the near term forces us to consider what we must do today to create the future we want.

By 2022, for tasks such as information and data processing, machines will for the first time surpass humans in working the number of task-hours required. Even in functions like reasoning and decision-making, the most human of functions at present, machines will take over 28% of total task-hours, compared to 19% today.

The majority of companies predict that this automation will be offset by growth in new roles. Technology creates new jobs that play to the comparative advantage of human skills, often complementing machines. There are also important socio-economic and demographic factors, such as rising middle-class demand in emerging markets, and the leisure and healthcare needs of ageing societies in many advanced economies.

But even as the overall pie gets bigger (estimates suggest 133 million new jobs offsetting a decline of 75 million) it is clear that managing these structural shifts require vastly improved coordination between workers, employers and policy-makers. If managed wisely, these transformations could lead to a new age of good work, good jobs and improved quality of life for all, but if managed poorly, they pose the risk of widening skills gaps, greater inequality and broader polarization.

The study proposes five steps for creating a positive future of work. World Economic Forum suggests that industries need a shared approach to managing workforce transformations while businesses must define their companies’ augmentation strategy. They also claim that the governments must activate modern labour market policies, policymakers and investors need to consider a new approach to job creation while all stakeholders need a common language for defining and assessing skills.