Automation and job loss: the Brazilian case

Abstract

Technological innovations are enabling machines to further replace human labor. In this context, we estimate – based on the Frey and Osborne (2017) study, which uses data from the United States of America (USA) – how many Brazilian jobs may be eliminated in one or two decades due to currently existing technologies. We add to earlier research, that included the Brazilian case, as we consider the entire employment structure – including both formal and informal sectors – in order to estimate the proportion of jobs in the country that may be substituted by machines. Our results indicate that 58.1% of Brazilian jobs may disappear over the next 10 to 20 years due to automation. Moreover, we observe that jobs in the informal sector face higher probabilities of elimination by automation when compared to the formal sector.