Fears of job loss among drivers arise as China pushes for robotaxi expansion, but experts predict new job opportunities.

• The emergence of robotaxis in China is causing concerns about job security among drivers, but experts predict that the technology will lead to the creation of new jobs.
• While new technology may cause some job displacement, it can also lead to the creation of new jobs, according to Mohit Sharma of Counterpoint Research.
• According to Jeff Farrah, CEO of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, these roles include service technicians, remote assistance operators, mapping specialists, and dispatchers.

The emergence of robotaxis in China is causing concerns about job security among drivers, but experts predict that the technology will lead to the creation of new jobs.

On Tuesday, China issued 16,000 test licenses for autonomous vehicles and opened 32,000 kilometers of public test roads. In June, the government greenlit nine domestic automakers, including BYD and Nio, to begin testing conditionally automated driving technologies on certain public roads. Elon Musk aims to obtain regulatory approval for Tesla's Full-Self Driving technology by the end of this year.

Many Chinese social media users believe that autonomous driving is taking away drivers' jobs and livelihoods.

Apollo Go, a self-driving ride hailing platform, currently has over 500 robotaxis operating in its largest market, Wuhan, and aims to increase that number to 1,000 by the end of the year. Despite being the largest ride-hailing platform in Wuhan, Baidu, the company's CEO, stated that its market share in the city is only approximately 1%.

Li stated during the firm's quarterly earnings call on Aug. 22 that scaling would be a gradual process and could take many years.

According to media reports, taxi drivers in Wuhan petitioned the transport authority to limit the use of the Apollo Go service because it became so popular.

The Apollo Go app displayed a 16-minute robotaxi ride in the southern suburb of Beijing would cost 10.36 yuan ($1.46), which is half the 20 yuan fare listed by ride-hailing apps that can call taxis.

New jobs created

Despite the flurry of headlines, experts say autonomous mobility will mature gradually.

According to Mohit Sharma, research analyst at Counterpoint Research, you will not lose all jobs at once. Instead, it will be a gradual process, with changes happening area by area and region by region.

Governments and robotaxi companies could collaborate to switch drivers to other jobs, while education systems could train new generations for the jobs of the future.

The Apollo Go spokesperson stated that the company is dedicated to providing new employment opportunities in the ecosystem. The roles include monitoring and testing systems, as well as data annotation, the spokesperson added.

Wang Juan, who has been working as an on-road testing operator at Apollo Go for about two years, revealed to CNBC that she joined the industry because of her interest in it. On-road testing operators evaluate autonomous vehicles and offer feedback on issues encountered during testing to optimize the vehicles' performance.

She felt her career stagnated at an automaker and jumped at the opportunity to work for Apollo Go instead.

""Finding problems and issues with autonomous cars is my goal in this role," she said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC."

The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association CEO, Jeff Farrah, stated that the industry is generating numerous high-paying jobs in the US. These positions encompass service technicians, remote assistance operators, mapping specialists, dispatchers, and terminal operators.

AVs may perform all driving tasks, but workers are crucial to the technology. Additionally, the increased accessibility of AVs will benefit the disability community in obtaining new employment opportunities.

New technology may cause some job displacement, but Sharma believes that innovation will also create more jobs and new opportunities in areas such as cybersecurity, vehicle testing and validation, and software development.

Autonomous driving will displace driver jobs in the long run, but there is already a shortage of drivers. Therefore, for taxi companies, this is a benefit.

– CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.