The COVID-19 pandemic is raising new questions about the pace of automation. Yes, the virus has radically shifted how companies operatebut will they use these disruptions to accelerate their automation timetables?

Automation certainly saves money, and many companies that survive the pandemic will inevitably look for ways to reduce their overhead. But the impact of software and hardware automation may still vary from industry to industry; for example, those firms with substantial warehouse and shipping operations may look more to robots to carry out the work.

Even after Covid-19 passes, companies will want to pandemic-proof their operations, Carl Benedikt Frey, author ofThe Technology Trapand director of the Future of Work program at the Oxford Martin School,recently wrote in theFinancial Times.Ecommerce has been boosted by social distancing, but pressure has meanwhile mounted on online retailers as their warehouses have become overcrowded.

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Long before COVID-19 became an issue, pundits were predicting that automation would radically change the nature of the workforce over the next decade. In November 2019, for instance,a report byBank of America Merrill Lynchpredicted that automation would delete 800 million human jobs by 2035. Way back in 2017, the McKinsey Global Institutealso cited a 800-million figure, including anywhere from 39 million to 73 million jobs impacted in the United States.

Thats more than just warehouse workers; indeed, a significant portion of the workforce was already suspicious of automations potential impact long before those studies. Most Americans also expressedsupport for policiesaimed at limiting automation to certain jobs or cushioning its economic impact,read one Pew survey from 2019. A large majority (85 percent) said they would support restricting workforce automation to jobs that are dangerous or unhealthy for humans to do.

If COVID-19 really does accelerate the trend toward automation, its worth examining which jobsparticularly tech jobsare most immune. Heres a list generated by Burning Glass, which collects and analyzes job postings and other data from across the country; based off its algorithms, it has determined that the following jobs are at low risk of automation over the next decade or so:

At first glance, these jobs seem pretty diverse. However, many have a common thread: creativity and the ability to think abstractly. For example, a software developer must come up with ingenious solutions to problems; analysts must intuitively grasp what data is trying to tell them; and administrators of all types must not only think long-term, but figure out how to best balance the competing needs of a particular system.

Aspects of these jobs will certainly be automated in coming yearsfor example, theres been anotable rise in no code and low code platformsthat allow pretty much anyone to assemble simple apps and games. But technologists who find themselves in greatest demand will possess a combination of higher-level skills, creativity, and soft skills (such as communication and empathy) that will likely remain beyond the abilities of automation for quite some time to comeno matter what impact COVID-19 has on tech jobs.

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Will COVID-19 Speed Up Tech Automation and Job Loss? - Dice Insights