Staff and wire reports

As many as 1.4 million Tennesseans are at risk of losing their jobs to automation, a new state report finds.

According to the study from the Center for Economic Research in Tennessee, automation could replace nearly 50 percent of the state's workforce.

In Middle Tennessee, several counties — including Rutherford, Robertson and Wilson — appear most vulnerable to the losses, with the study finding a high likelihood that 54 percent of jobs in those locations will be automated in the coming years. Counties closer to metro areas are better protected against the losses, according to the report, which lists Williamson and Davidson counties as the least vulnerable of the state's 95 counties.

The findings were published on the Tennessee Workforce Disruption Index last week. According to the report, automation would change the way the workplace is configured and make new demands on educational facilities. The report stated that automation will not eliminate labor, but it is likely to reshape the distribution of jobs. It stated that new jobs will be created and people will shift toward existing jobs that require high-level skills.

Randy Boyd, the commissioner of the state's Department of Economic and Community Development, said that a massive loss of jobs could be avoided by shifting educational resources and by training workers for new career opportunities. He said the people who are most at risk of losing jobs are those who don't have post-secondary skills.

To address the issue, Boyd said that the department's solution is its Drive to 55 initiative. He said the initiative can raise post-secondary educational attainment in the state from 37 percent of the population to about 55 percent and could generate $9.3 billion annually.

"So if we fail, it's cataclysmic," he said. "If we succeed, it's glorious."

And the possible losses are not necessarily all bad news, according to the report.

"History demonstrates that a shift toward heightened technological demands of the business community does not likely coincide with declining demand for labor," the authors wrote. "Automation of workplace tasks will displace workers, but not replace workers. Rather than eliminating labor, automation is likely to reshape the distribution of jobs."

The report also concluded that among 12 Southeast states, Tennessee is ninth-most vulnerable to future workforce disruption.