UK company offering jobs to any employee who admits a robot could replace them

Admitting your job could be made redundant by robots is not typically something employees would be rushing to do, but UK insurance company Aviva is encouraging it. The Daily Mail reports the multinational company will offer training and jobs in different sections of the company for any employee who admits their job could be done better […]

Dominic Powell 08 March, 2017

Admitting your job could be made redundant by robots is not typically something employees would be rushing to do, but UK insurance company Aviva is encouraging it.

The Daily Mail reports the multinational company will offer training and jobs in different sections of the company for any employee who admits their job could be done better by some smart silicon.

The question will be reportedly asked of the company’s 16,000 employees, with call centres staff and credit rating assessors suggested to be the most likely to make the switch.

Robots and artificial intelligence technology taking jobs have been top of mind for employers and employees alike, and many are speculating the time of reckoning will be soon at hand.

Futurist and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Martin Ford told SmartCompany last October there would be a “big disruption coming” for any worker sitting in front of a computer. And it’s not just limited to manufacturing and finance sectors.

“Every industry will be impacted in some respect; we’re already seeing it happen with self-driving cars and fast food,” Ford said at the time.

“It’s not about specific sectors, it’s about the nature of the work you’re doing. If you’re doing something predicable or routine, doing something encapsulated in the data, you’re at risk of being replaced.

“If someone else could do your job from watching you do it there is potential for disruption.”

But although some business owners might see benefits in automating more job tasks, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes a discussion needs to be had about the implications for taxation.

“You can’t just give up that income tax, because that’s part of how you’ve been funding that level of human workers,” Gates told Quartz in an interview.

“There are many ways to take that extra productivity and generate more taxes. Exactly how you’d do it, measure it, you know, it’s interesting for people to start talking about now.”

This article was originally published on SmartCompany.

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