Over three quarters of a million public sector jobs could be automated, leading to a decrease of up to £17bn in wage costs, new research reveals.

The business advisory firm Deloitte has published its annual analysis of public finances, The State of the State, and warned up to 861,000 public sector jobs - 16% of the overall workforce - could be automated by 2030.

The research, carried out with Oxford University, also found this could lead to a reduction of up to £17bn in public sector wage costs.

Job automation would have less of an impact on the public sector than other sectors because many of the roles - in education and caring, for example - require public interaction.

However, it could have a considerable impact on roles where activities are repetitive and predictable, such as in administrative and operative roles.

‘Across all sectors of the economy, technological advances mean that repetitive and predictable tasks are increasingly undertaken by robots – either in the form of software or devices. The public sector is no different,’ Mike Turley, global head of public sector at Deloitte, said.

‘The public sector has a high number of public-facing roles, particularly those in areas such as education and caring. These will be relatively safe from automation and could see the public sector impacted less than other sectors.

‘However, automation still has significant potential to support cost reduction, meet citizens’ expectations of public services, free up real estate, save staff time and improve productivity.’

‘Automation will not displace employees overnight, its impact is gradual and manageable and there could well be social or political resistance to the full deployment of technology in place of people,’ Mr Turley continued.

‘Our wider research on automation also shows that while jobs are displaced by automation, new, higher-skilled and better paying jobs are created as a result.’