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Automation Nation: Whose Job Is Next?

Lower costs from automation may increase demand for workers, but automation is likely to eliminate nearly 40 million jobs in the US in the coming decade.

By Karen Harris, Austin Kimson and Andrew Schwedel

March 19, 2018

Automation is likely to eliminate nearly 40 million jobs in the US in the coming decade. In some cases, lower costs resulting from automation will increase demand for goods or services, and that may add back jobs in a given industry. Many sectors will be able to lower operating costs by 10% or more, including service sector employers such as retail trade and food service.

Read the Bain Brief: Labor 2030

Karen Harris is managing director of Bain & Company’s Macro Trends Group and is based in the firm’s New York office. Austin Kimson is director of Bain’s Macro Trends Group and is based in the Dallas office. Andrew Schwedel is a partner in the New York office.

Macro Trends Insights

Demographics, automation and inequality could dramatically reshape our world in the 2020s and beyond. Our insights discuss how executives can prepare for the new global economy.