Robots will be your colleagues not your replacement: Manpower

A robotic bartender prepares drinks inside a space modul-like structure in Prague, Czech Republic - Reuters

BERLIN (Reuters): Fears that robots will eliminate your job are unfounded with a growing number of employers planning to increase or maintain headcount as a result of automation, staffing company ManpowerGroup said in a survey published on Friday.

The ‘Humans Wanted: Robots Need You’ report surveyed 19,000 employers in 44 countries and found 69% of firms were planning to maintain the size of their workforce while 18% wanted to hire more people as a result of automation. That was the highest result in three years.

The report went on to say that 24% of the firms that will invest in automation and digital technologies over the next two years plan to add jobs compared to 18% of those who are not automating.

FT Key Takes

• More than three million industrial robots will be in use in factories around the world by 2020, according to the International Federation of Robotics.
• The Manpower survey found that 84% of firms planned to help their workers learn new skills by 2020, compared to just 21% in 2011.
• The global talent shortage is at a 12-year-high, with many companies struggling to fill jobs, according to Manpower.

Just 9% of employers in the annual survey said automation would directly lead to job losses, while 4% did not know what the impact would be. “More and more robots are being added to the workforce, but humans are too,” said ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jonas Prising.

“Tech is here to stay and it’s our responsibility as leaders to become Chief Learning Officers and work out how we integrate humans with machines.”

More than three million industrial robots will be in use in factories around the world by 2020, according to the International Federation of Robotics.

The Manpower survey found that 84% of firms planned to help their workers learn new skills by 2020, compared to just 21% in 2011.

The global talent shortage is at a 12-year-high, with many companies struggling to fill jobs, according to Manpower.