One in four Canadians fear they could lose their job to technology in the next few years, according to a survey from recruitment firm Randstad.

But not everyone is pessimistic about technology’s role in the economy. Sixty-eight per cent of respondents in the survey saw its impact as an opportunity, while only 32 per cent saw it as a threat.

Tom Turpin, president of Randstad Canada, said that while certain jobs will disappear in the coming years, technological change also creates new types of jobs.

“Computerization may have reduced the demand for typists and switchboard operators, but also increased the number of more highly skilled and computer savvy administrative assistants,” he said in a statement.

Advancements in technology have created “entirely new industries and occupations such as app designers, digital marketing specialists, big data architects or social media managers,” he added.

Adapting new technologies is one major way businesses increase productivity, and productivity increases generally lead to increased wealth in the long term. But in the short term, they often mean major job losses.

Many experts see automation, rather than offshoring of jobs, as the largest reason why manufacturing jobs haven’t bounced back from the recession.

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