A new report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch has predicted a massive impact on manufacturing employment through the use of robotics.
The research found that offshoring jobs to lower-cost countries could save 65 per cent of labour costs in manufacturing. However. the use of robotics could bring about a 90 per cent saving, according to The Guardian, which received a copy of the bank's research.
The local adoption of robotics was above a global average density per 10,000 workers of 66 industrial robots. This number is 80 units per 10,000 workers here, though this is well behind Korea (over 400), Japan and Germany. The research found that around half of current manufacturing tasks would be automated by 2025, notes The Australia Financial Review.
The BOAML report found that overall, the pace of technological disruption had shifted “from linear to parabolic in recent years”, affecting every sector. 25 million finance and legal roles would be disrupted globally by technology.