Investment in manufacturing robotics will create jobs, not fewer them

January 6, 2016 10:50 am

Investing an additional £1.2 bn in automation has the potential to add as much as £60.5 bn to the UK economy over the next decade
  Investing in robots would create more jobs for the UK’s embattled manufacturing industry, not take them, according to research from Barclays.
According to the ‘Future-proofing UK manufacturing’ report by U.K. banking giant Barclays, “Investing an additional £1.2 bn into manufacturing processes, to increase robotics and automation over the next decade could add as much as £60.5 bn to the UK economy over the next decade. This is equivalent to nearly two fifths of the manufacturing sector’s value to the economy today.”
The report reveals that investing in automation technology will help to increase the international competitiveness of the UK’s manufacturing sector through increased manufacturing productivity and efficiency. “As a result of additional investment, the manufacturing sector will be worth £191bn in 2025, £8.6bn more than currently projected and a 19.6 per cent increase on today,” the report said.
Furthermore, the report adds, increased investment in automation will help to soften the expected long-term decline in manufacturing sector jobs by safeguarding 73,500 additional workers in 2025, due to the creation of a larger, more productive and competitive UK manufacturing sector.
In addition, 32,300 more jobs will be supported elsewhere in the economy through the generation of more business in the supply chain, from raw materials through to logistics, as well as the effect of workers spending more widely in the economy.

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