Automation, politics and the future of work

The Institute for the Future of Work has examined whether automation risk may have been a determinant in voting behaviour during the EU Referendum.

We find that local authorities with the highest risk of automation were significantly more likely to vote leave in the EU Referendum, and that the risk of automation is a stronger predictor of the leave vote than the age, gender or ethnic profile of local authorities in England.

Our findings suggest that, while automation is a source of prosperity in the long term, it is also a growing political challenge. Active policy intervention will be needed to ease the transition of workers into good jobs, increase resilience to change, and spread the gains of technological innovation.