March 10 (UPI) — Most Americans think new technology will be a greater threat to the workforce over the next decade than immigration or offshoring U.S. businesses and jobs, a new Gallup survey found.
Fifty-eight percent of the Gallup survey’s 3,297 respondents said they think technology — specifically the use of automation, artificial intelligence and robotics — poses a larger threat than immigration and offshoring.
That majority held across a number of demographic breakdowns. Most respondents with blue-collar jobs said tech is a greater threat, as did a majority of respondents working white-collar jobs.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents with less than a bachelor’s degree said technology is a bigger threat to the workforce and 61 percent of respondents with at least a bachelor’s degree gave the same answer.
When broken down by political beliefs, however, most Republicans — 52 percent — said immigration and offshoring are a greater threat. Most Democrats and independents thought technology will be worse for jobs.
In an analysis published last year, the British Royal Society of the Arts said robots could replace up to 10 million U.K. workers over the next 10 years.
Gallup and Northeastern University conducted the mail-in survey from Sept. 15 to Oct. 10 last year from a random sample of respondents at least 18 years old.
