Midskill jobs are declining in many industrialized countries as firms turn to automation, according to a report released by staffing firm Hays plc and Oxford Economics.

“Rapid technological development has enabled machines and software to complete many routine and increasingly non-routine tasks, according to the report. “As the cost of these machines and programs falls, they become increasingly close — and sometimes superior — substitutes for the humans who previously completed the tasks, leading to employment losses in vulnerable occupations.”

Midskill jobs include bookkeepers, paralegals and IT support among others.

Technological advances in communication have also enabled further offshoring by industrialized counties, which impacts midskill and low-skill positions more than high skill roles.

However, because of fewer middle-skill jobs, those workers are going into lower-skill areas and creating an excess supply of low-skill labor and depressing wages.

The trend appears set to continue, according to the report, which looked at 34 countries around the globe, including the US.

Increased automation also appears to be one cause behind a trend of wage stagnation despite falling unemployment rates, the report said.

Wage stagnation was one development noted in the report. However, it cited other possible explanations for wage stagnation, including the concentration of firms geographically, particularly in local labor markets, which reduces competition along with noncompete and no poach agreements and the “fissuring” of workplaces.

Another possible explanation for wage stagnation: Under fissuring of workplaces, companies focus on their core businesses while outsourcing other tasks such as IT support and cleaning. “This ends the practice of offering a general pay rise to all staff, including non-core workers. Meanwhile, specialist providers of the outsourced services compete primarily on price, applying downward pressure on wages at these firms,” according to the report.

The report also found two overarching trends — firstly, the divide between job seekers’ skills and those sought by employers continues to grow and, secondly, the wage premium paid to worker in high-skill occupations has fallen relative to those in low-skill roles. Whether the latter is driven by stagnation of wages in high-skill roles or faster wage growth in low-skill roles varies by country.