Why robots aren't coming for your job: think tank

Despite the rhetoric of the rise of the robots, machines aren't about to take all our jobs, says a UK think thank.

Embracing greater automation is vital to reap the full productivity benefits offered by technology and offer much-needed wage rises, UK think tank IPPR says.

An "accelerated trajectory" of automation could raise productivity growth by as much as 1.4 per cent each year, boosting GDP by 10 per cent by 2030, it argues.

Matthew Lawrence, co-author of the report said: "Despite the rhetoric of the rise of the robots, machines aren't about to take all our jobs. While technological change will reshape how we work and what we do, it won't eliminate employment."

However, if poorly managed, automation could bring challenges by exacerbating economic inequality, Lawrence added. The benefits of automation could be "narrowly concentrated" he warned, as low-skilled workers unprepared for new technology would be left behind.

This would result in a "paradox of plenty": a richer society but one that sees regions and communities left behind by localised technological revolution.

Jobs would be largely reimagined rather than lost, the report said. Rather than being on the cusp of a 'post-human' economy, jobs would be reallocated and economic output increased.

The think-tank proposed a radical redistribution of the means of production in order to combat automation-related inequality.