Education and Skills

Working women are more at risk of job automation than men

A robot wearing a nurse costume carries medical documents at Mongkutwattana General Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha - RC1B01E87750

Should women fear the robot revolution more than men? Image: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Kate Ryan
Writer, Reuters

Women across the economic spectrum are more vulnerable than men to losing their jobs to technology, according to a study released on Wednesday by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

Among the positions with more than a 90 percent chance of becoming automated were administrative assistant, office clerk, bookkeeper and cashier, all fields dominated by women.

"We're already seeing some of that with tasks being replaced by computers," said Chandra Childers, the study director and a senior researcher at the IWPR.

Drawing on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and research examining the possibility of automation based on current technology, the authors found that 58 percent of at-risk workers were women.

Image: Institute for Women’s Policy Research

For every seven men in occupations with a 90 percent likelihood of automation, there are 10 women.

Researchers noted that while women work in the positions most likely to be automated, they also dominate those at lowest risk for automation, such a childcare and nursing.

These care positions tend to pay $20,000 to $25,000, an annual salary below the poverty line for a family of four and far less than the salaries of male-dominated positions that are not at risk of automation, including executives and legislators.

"We need a push to improve the quality of those jobs," said Childers of care work.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a jobs increase of 7 percent between 2016 and 2026, and new jobs may be created for the displaced women, Childers said.

Have you read?

Another potential solution for women in at-risk positions would be training for higher-wage positions.

But for women already years or decades into their careers, skill building can be a challenge.

Taking care of children or aging parents, jobs that disproportionately fall on the shoulders of women, leave little time for training, said Childers.

The research does not predict how quickly office automation will take hold, but looks to the jobs where current technology makes automation possible.

Childers said the timeline will largely depend on customers and clients who interact with workers in these positions.

"If people get used to technology, the speed will increase," she said, noting that customers were initially wary of self-checkout machines but now use them regularly.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Education

Related topics:
Education and SkillsEmerging TechnologiesEconomic Growth
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Education is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

How 'green education' could speed up the net-zero transition

Sonia Ben Jaafar

November 22, 2024

Systems thinking has great potential in education. Here are 5 ways to deliver it

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum