Impacts of digitization on real estate sector jobs

PurposePrevious research on automation and job disruption is only marginally related to the real estate industry and its characteristics. This study investigates the effects of digitization on jobs in German real estate sector, in order to assess the proportion of jobs threatened to be replaced by automation. Since Germany is the largest EU economy insights for the German real estate market allow a first approximation for Europe.Design/methodology/approachAn extensive database of the German Federal Employment Agency containing job definitions and occupation titles is matched with real estate criteria to create a subset with the relevant real estate occupations. This data is combined with a database of the German Institute of Employment Research reflecting to what extent tasks within jobs can be automated by current technical capabilities.FindingsFor the 286 identified occupations within the real estate sector a weighted average of 47 percent substitution probability through current technological capabilities is derived for tasks within the examined occupations.Practical implicationsThis contribution indicates the extent of the structural change the real estate sector has to face due to digitization: One out of two real estate jobs will have to be re-created.Originality/valueThis research quantifies the magnitude of the job killer aspect of digitization in the real estate sector.