The coronavirus pandemic could potentially see jobs for humans permanently replaced with machines according to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Jobs that are at risk of disappearing include retail salespersons, parking attendants, slaughterhouse workers, and toll collectors.
Bloomberg reports that a recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia claims that the coronavirus pandemic could potentially see many jobs previously held by human workers taken over by robots and machines.
In industries that have the potential to be automated, layoffs have been higher which increases the risk that these jobs will become permanently obsolete according to the study conducted by economists Lei Ding and Julieth Saenz Molina. The spread of the coronavirus has also accelerated automation in industries that have been badly affected by the virus or that do not allow for remote work.
Ding and Saenz Molina wrote in their study: “In case the COVID-19 crisis evolves into a prolonged economic crisis, many job losses in automatable occupations could become permanent in the post-pandemic economy, similar to what happened during the recovery from the Great Recession.”
Industries that were already at risk of becoming increasingly automated lost 4.2 more jobs per 100 than jobs in sectors that are facing fewer threats from technology. The study states that the jobs most at risk of being replaced by machines include hotel clerks, shuttle drivers, retail salespersons, parking attendants, slaughterhouse workers, and toll collectors.
Read the full study here.
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