Up to one in five jobs to go to robots, according to CIO survey

The 2019 edition of the CIO (Chief Information Officer) Survey, conducted by Harvey Nash and KPMG, reveals the views of digital leaders on the future of work in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. According to the survey, responded to by more than 3600 senior executives from 108 countries and summarised in the ‘A Changing Perspective’ report, up to one in five jobs are expected to be replaced by robots. Most of the respondents were of the view that around 10% of their company’s workforce will be replaced by automation and/or artificial intelligence (AI) within five years. More than two-thirds of the respondents were of the view that new jobs will be created as a result of technological progress and they will compensate for the lost jobs. In general, AI is expected to allow employees to focus more on work that requires more brainpower. Last but not least, IT leaders believe that organisations which do not invest in AI and automation can expect their cost base to be higher than for those entities which invest in such digital technologies.