Hundreds of millions of workers worldwide will need to find new careers or a new set of skills to compete in the jobs market as robots and artificial intelligence march ahead.

As many as 700m people could be displaced from their jobs by robots by 2030, particularly if advanced economies switch to new technology rapidly, according to a study from consultancy McKinsey.

If the pace is more modest – as the analysts expect – then around 375m people, or 14pc of all workers, would have to move jobs and retrain.

This should make workers more productive on average, driving economic growth and improving pay.

McKinsey believes there will be no shortage of demand for workers, but that the type of jobs available will change as machines become more intelligent, meaning workers need to become more skilled.