Chancellor Philip Hammond has risked a backlash after he declared: "There are no unemployed people."
Mr Hammond's comments came just days after latest jobless figures showed the UK total of unemployed is more than 32 million.
The period covering the previous three months is down by 14,000.
In Scotland, the figure rose by 2,000 to 109,000.
His comments came in the context that Britain can deal with the threat to jobs from technological change.
Mr Hammond was asked how Britain can deal with the increasing automation of jobs, ahead of a Budget in which he will pledge hundreds of millions in high-tech investment.
He said: "I remember 20 years ago we were worrying about what was going to happen to the million shorthand typists in Britain as the personal computer took over.
"Well nobody has a shorthand typist these days, but where are all these unemployed people?
"There are no unemployed people."
In 1987, then prime minister Margaret Thatcher caused an outcry as she declared there was 'no such thing as society' in an interview with Women's Own.
Asked about the potential threat to jobs from automation, Mr Hammond told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "There's a simple choice here, either we embrace change, and we put ourselves at the forefront of it, or we try to hide from change and we allow ourselves to slip behind.
"We have to embrace change in this country and we have to ensure that our people have the skills and the capability and the tools they need to be able to evolve, to learn new skills, to take up new careers.
He added: "We have created 3.5 million new jobs since 2010, this economy has become a jobs factory, constantly reinventing itself, constantly creating new jobs and careers."
In the Budget, Mr Hammond will announce a national retraining scheme in collaboration with the CBI and Trade Union Congress.
A first step will include £36 million for digital skills courses which use artificial intelligence.
As part of the Government's drive to build more homes, £40 million will also be invested in construction training programmes for groundworkers, bricklayers, roofers and plasterers.
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