Automation may wipe out 25% jobs in BFSI by 2022: Report

According to the FICCI-Nasscom and EY 15-20 per cent of workforce in the sector would be deployed in new jobs that do not exist today

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Around 25 per cent of existing jobs in BFSI space are expected to face existential threat by 2022, as the sector is witnessing rising adoption of automation to increase efficiency, says a report.

According to the FICCI-Nasscom and EY - Future of Jobs - report, by 2022, 20-25 per cent of existing jobs in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector will face existential threat, while 15-20 per cent of workforce in the sector would be deployed in new jobs that do not exist today.

"The BFSI sector has been shifting gears from a technology adoption standpoint and is witnessing an increasing advent of robotic process automation (robotic process automation/chatbots) to increase efficiency and productivity in the day-to-day processes," said Abizer Diwanji, Partner and National Leader, Financial Services, EY India.

Diwanji further added that "these technologies are taking over not only rule-based jobs but also jobs that require knowledge-based activities. Therefore, the impact on jobs in terms of skill-sets is expected to be significant in this sector".

As per the report, some of the threatened jobs in the BFSI sector are data entry operator, data verification personnel, teller, cashier and underwriter.

On the other hand, new job roles in BFSI sector will include cyber security specialist, credit analyst, robot programmer, blockchain architect and process modeler expert.

Around 68 per cent of respondents surveyed said supply chain optimisation through exponential technologies like chatbots and blockchain is transforming the Indian BFSI sector.

Moreover, Indian banks are looking to bring in robotics into their branches as digital assistants to interact with and assist customers in day-to-day activities.

"India has a time window of 2-3 years before the effects of disruptive technologies like AI, Internet of things, machine learning, and analytics among others begin to have an impact on business and society," said Anurag Malik, Partner - People & Organisation, Advisory Services, EY.