Transport and storage is the second highest career category at potential high risk of losing jobs to automation by early 2030s.
According to new research by PwC, the estimated proportion of jobs at high risk of automation for the category is 56.4 per cent.
The only industry that demonstrates higher risk is the water, sewage and waste management sector at 62.6 per cent.
The research also found that:
- Up to around 30 per cent of existing UK jobs are susceptible to automation from robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) by the early 2030s, but in many cases the nature of jobs will change rather than disappear
- This is lower than the US at 38 per cent and Germany at 35 per cent, but higher than Japan at 21 per cent
- The likelihood of automation appears highest in sectors such as transport, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail, and lower in education, health and social work
- Male workers could be at greater potential risk of job automation than women, but education is the key differentiating factor for individual workers
- Automation will also boost productivity and wealth, leading to offsetting additional job gains elsewhere in the economy – but income inequality may rise
- Economic, legal and regulatory constraints may restrict the pace and extent of increases in automation in practice
The full list of industry risks:
| Industry | Employment share of total jobs ( per cent) | Job automation ( per cent at potential high risk) |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 14.8 | 44.0 |
| Manufacturing | 7.6 | 46.4 |
| Administrative and support services | 8.4 | 37.4 |
| Transport and storage | 4.9 | 56.4 |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 8.8 | 25.6 |
| Human health and social work | 12.4 | 17.0 |
| Accommodation and food services | 6.7 | 25.5 |
| Construction | 6.4 | 23.7 |
| Public administration and defence | 4.3 | 32.1 |
| Information and communication | 4.1 | 27.3 |
| Financial and insurance | 3.2 | 32.2 |
| Education | 8.7 | 8.5 |
| Arts and entertainment | 2.9 | 22.3 |
| Other services | 2.7 | 18.6 |
| Real estate | 1.7 | 28.2 |
| Water, sewage and waste management | 0.6 | 62.6 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 1.1 | 18.7 |
| Electricity and gas supply | 0.4 | 31.8 |
| Mining and quarrying | 0.2 | 23.1 |
| Domestic personnel and self-subsistence | 0.3 | 8.1 |
| Total for all sectors | 100 | 30 |
