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Automation may destroy jobs, change the labor demand structure or different aspects of
work, and therefore may impact workers' health and well-being. Using French individual survey
data, we estimate the effects of working in automatable jobs on mental health. Implementing the
propensity score matching method to solve the issue of endogenous exposure to automation risk,
we find that workers whose job is at risk of automation in the future have a higher probability
to suffer from a major depressive episode or a generalize anxiety disorder at present by about
4 percentage points. Fear of job loss within the year and fear of qualification or occupational
changes within the next three years seem relevant channels to explain this negative effect on
mental health.
