Automation has been a scary concept for workers and a boon for business since the Industrial Revolution.  Sure, we didn't have robotic welders or self driving cars then - but things like steam power and industrial machinery did allow the common worker to out perform their predecessors by quite a large margin.  That margin did not go unnoticed, either.  Business owners have been trying to automate everything they can since then, and workers have feared this kind of streamlining would put them out of a job.  The American folk tales of John Henry and Paul Bunyan highlight one of the earliest documented fears America had in the face of the machines that would take their livelihood.  John Henry literally works himself to death to prove that man could work just as hard as a machine specifically designed to replace him.

New data confirms that this trend is not only still replacing flesh and blood employees, it's accelerating at a phenomenal rate!  In the past, workers have had to compete with the physical capabilities of machines.  Now, sophisticated computer programs can replace some of the critical thinking and decision making abilities that have been one of the human workers last advantages over automation.  A recent study from the McKinsey Global Institute sheds light on how prolific automation in the global workforce truly is.

According to the new data, by the year 2030, 375 million jobs will trade humans for machines.  According to Oxford University's study on the subject, a full 47% of jobs currently done by people will disappear in the next 25 years.

According to the data, the top 5 jobs that will shed the most humans in favor of machines are: Cashiers, Office Clerks, Administrative Assistants, Bookkeepers, and Cooks.

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