According to a new study, about five percent of those who read this article are at risk of losing their jobs to automation. Specifically, 4.2 percent of software developers and 0.6 percent of systems analysts could end up seeing their jobs automated. Online-bachelors-degrees.com and NowSourcing compiled data from over 20 unique studies and sources to arrive at those figures. While five percent is a notable number, it’s also pretty low. The reason tech is so resistant to automation is dynamism; while some may consider writing code a mundane task, it’s not one replicated easily. A recent Nintex study shows that management is well aware that automation is gunning for jobs. A full 71 percent of ‘decision makers’ in that study say roughly one-fifth of jobs at their companies will be affected by automation. The numbers between the two studies obviously don't align. Who's really at risk? Though it admits a full changeover could take “a decade or two,” the NowSourcing infographic (see below) shows that entry-level jobs are most vulnerable. While tech jobs are somewhat immune, retail workers, restaurant staffers, hospitality employees, and warehouse laborers are particularly in trouble. We’re seeing this potential for retail-level impact already with Amazon Go stores, the company’s automated convenience stores that are popping up all over the United States. Those ‘Go’ stores are also a good case study in how automation will actually change jobs. People still work there, despite the omnipresent automation; soft skills such as customer relations and problem-solving are not things robots are good at (yet). Rather than take money at a register, employees at Go stores are behind the scenes making sure the automation actually runs well. Soft skills and dynamic problem-solving are (at least for now) safeguards against automation. This is why NowSourcing’s study calls out technology, medical, and education professionals as extremely low-risk for takeover by machines. While some studies say overall job loss to automation might hit ten percent in 2019, those jobs won’t be coming from tech. Source: Online Bachelor Degrees