Report: Robots May Replace 20 Million Factory Jobs

Robots could replace as many as 20 million manufacturing jobs worldwide by 2030, says U.K.-based Oxford Economics Ltd.

Each installed factory robot displaces an average 1.6 production jobs, the firm estimates. It says automation has replaced some 1.7 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, including 500,000 in China, 400,000 in Europe and 260,000 in the U.S.

Regions likely to be most affected are those with low-skill workers, weak economies and existing high unemployment rates, according to Oxford Economics. In those areas, it says, adding automation would result in nearly twice the job losses as in higher-skilled areas within the same region, thereby exacerbating economic inequalities.

Production workers displaced by automation will find similar challenges if they look for jobs in such areas as transport, maintenance and administration, the firm cautions.

But growth in automation also will spur overall economic growth and create enough new tech jobs to offset the factory positions it eliminates, Oxford Economics adds. The firm estimates that a 30% expansion in automated manufacturing worldwide would create $5 trillion in additional gross domestic product.