Up to 861,000 public sector jobs, equating to 16% of the overall workforce, could be automated by 2030 according to research by Deloitte and Oxford University.

And of the 52% of the workforce in interactive roles, 23% have probability of being automated, including teachers and social workers.

Imagine being taught by a robot, or potentially more difficult to comprehend, relying upon one to take the decision as to whether your child needs taking in to care – or not. Surely such a decision, its effect on the service user, and on the social worker in dealing with the stress which comes with that decision requires emotional intelligence (EI)?

A Japanese telecoms company has released an ‘Emobot’ which it says has that emotional intelligence.

While ‘Pepper’ is currently a home-based product or ‘friend’ as they describe it to me, we are not far away from the very realisation that robots are indeed about to take over many of our jobs.

Assuming that we will be looking to ‘recruit’ them, how will we assess them?

With social care in crisis – as many say, being able to find a way of assessing robots and EI would make great sense.

Emobots would certainly be able to manage their anxiety and stress better, so enhancing overall retention challenges. For the future – maybe.

Meantime, why not consider how introducing EI assessment to your current recruitment processes might help you climb out of your social worker retention challenges.

Kate Wilson is Recruitment Comms Specialist – Client Service and New Business at Penna Recruitment Solutions Kate.wilson @penna.com