According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies around 11 per cent of the workers set to be affected by the new minimum wage by 2020 are in jobs that are 'routine' and hence potentially performed by machines. Increases in UK minimum wage could kickstart an automation revolution in the workplace, with potentially radical consequences for those currently working as cashiers and receptionists among other jobs, according to new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Traditional low-paid occupations, such as waiters and nursery assistants, actually involve lots of non-routine tasks, making them less susceptible to automation, according to research.
For the over-25s, the minimum wage now stands at £7.50, covering 4 per cent of employees, and will rise to £7.83 in April. The Government plans to raise it to 60 per cent of median earnings by 2020, which would equate to around £8.56 on current projections. Labour has pledged to go further, promising a £10 per hour minimum wage in its election manifesto last year. The minimum wage increases of recent years seem to have had little negative impact on employment levels of the less-skilled, despite warnings that the hikes would cost jobs and hurt the very people they are intended to assist.
The IFS research found that the peak of “automatability” for jobs (16 per cent) does not occur until one goes a quarter of a way up the wage distribution. “Beyond some point, a higher minimum must start affecting employment, and we do not know where that point is. The fact that the higher minimum will increasingly affect jobs that appear to be more automatable is an additional reason why extremely careful monitoring is required,” said Agnes Norris Keiller, a research economist at the IFS.
For the over-25s, the minimum wage now stands at £7.50, covering 4 per cent of employees, and will rise to £7.83 in April. The Government plans to raise it to 60 per cent of median earnings by 2020, which would equate to around £8.56 on current projections. Labour has pledged to go further, promising a £10 per hour minimum wage in its election manifesto last year. The minimum wage increases of recent years seem to have had little negative impact on employment levels of the less-skilled, despite warnings that the hikes would cost jobs and hurt the very people they are intended to assist.
The IFS research found that the peak of “automatability” for jobs (16 per cent) does not occur until one goes a quarter of a way up the wage distribution. “Beyond some point, a higher minimum must start affecting employment, and we do not know where that point is. The fact that the higher minimum will increasingly affect jobs that appear to be more automatable is an additional reason why extremely careful monitoring is required,” said Agnes Norris Keiller, a research economist at the IFS.
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