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UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings used an interview with CNN’s Richard Quest to warn business leaders at Davos not to underestimate the jobs threat posed by the fourth industrial revolution.

The World Economic Forum predicts that a minimum of 5 million jobs could be lost by 2020 as a result of technological advances but Jennings said the figure was likely to be far higher in the long term.

“The information that we are given and that the research that has been carried out indicate that as many as one in two jobs could be impacted. Jobs will be replaced by technology, by artificial intelligence and by robots.

“We expect to see a cannibalisation of jobs, of quality of life and of the content of work."

Jennings was speaking to CNN ahead of the Forum which begins in Davos this week with a focus on the fourth industrial revolution. "Industry 4.0" is characterised by an increasing automation and digitalisation of human tasks, the rise of non-standard forms of work, and the individualisation of the workforce. Jennings called for a fair deal for workers facing the onset of sweeping economic and social changes by describing three essential pillars of transformation – adaptation, mitigation and a just transition. “We are facing a dramatic social change and the digi sharks need to understand their responsibility,” he added.