Ever since the Industrial Revolution, workers have feared that they will be permanently out of work as a result of being replaced by machines. A large majority of the population still worries about the prospect of technological unemployment as a result of robotics and AI advancements. People have argued whether advancements create more jobs than they destroy since the 18th century. Nevertheless, it keeps resurfacing in policy discussions.
Although the fears about automation-related unemployment are mostly unjustified, one can’t entirely rule out the possibility of it realizing. Presently, we are living in another era of automation fear.
Job insecurity of workers directly displaced by machines
Numerous new jobs have been created, some of which offer competitive salaries to highly educated analysts. However, some workers are at risk, especially those who are directly replaced by the machines and now have to compete with them.
Since the 1980s, as more manufacturing and administrative workers lost their jobs or saw their wages drop, digital automation has increased inequality in the labour market. Workers who can complement the new technology and carry out jobs that are beyond the scope of machines frequently experience increases in pay, whereas those workers who undertake similar duties, whom the technology can replace, are left in a more difficult situation.
Nearly 69% of the jobs in India will be under the threat of automation by 2040: Report
63 million jobs are anticipated to be lost to automation by 2040; more than 247 million jobs are anticipated to be at risk across sectors that are more vulnerable to automation, like construction and agriculture, according to Forrester’s Future of Jobs report.
Automation poses a more significant threat to the working populations of the five main economies in Asia-Pacific – India, China, South Korea, Australia, and Japan than it does to those in Europe and North America. India will add 160 million new workers over the next 20 years, bringing the country’s working population to 1.1 billion by 2040. However, 69 per cent of India’s jobs are still threatened by automation.
The concern of the upcoming automation era is uncertain yet legitimate
Two economists, who studied the future of automation in the mid-2000s, came to the conclusion that teaching a program to do things like driving in traffic would be “enormously difficult.” Given recent developments in artificial intelligence, which are fueling the self-driving car movement, we now know that these projections were incorrect.
Professionals have been defeated by artificial intelligence since this decade’s beginning, ushering in a new era of technological advancement. Additionally, it impacts several sectors, including fin-tech, the Internet of Things (IoT), logistics, transportation, and health.
Empirical data on how artificial intelligence, quantum computing, virtual reality, biotechnology, nanotechnology, renewable energy, and other new technologies will affect our economy in the near future is still scarce. Therefore, it is unclear to what degree the concerns about unemployment due to automation are valid.
In order to completely comprehend the rising impact of the introduction of new technologies on the future of work, real-time monitoring and continuous research is required.
Automation is concerning but you shouldn’t oppose it outright
Some professionals are concerned about the inevitable replacement of human labour due to recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and robotics. On the other hand, there are many experts who argue that automation isn’t anything to fear and that it actually produces new jobs by bringing the employment rate in the economy back into balance.
Automation-related layoffs may indirectly affect labour-saving goals. Companies can grow (i.e., add more items or create new sites) and cut prices to compete when they can accomplish more with less. Additionally, when goods and services are more affordable, customers can afford to purchase more of them or use their savings to purchase other items.
For instance, the introduction of spreadsheet software led to the loss of two million bookkeepers. However, it also resulted in the creation of millions of new employment for financial analysts, auditors, and accountants.
Way Forward
The range of tasks and jobs that machines can perform will increase with the advent of much more sophisticated robotics and artificial intelligence in the coming decades. The upcoming era of automation has the potential to result in much greater worker displacement and inequality than previous waves of automation.
We need extensive studies to evaluate how this new wave of technological progress will impact the level of employment to equip ourselves with the changing economy in advance. Adopting new, more effective policies is necessary. Increasing the depth and caliber of education and training will help us shield ourselves from the weapon of automation-based unemployment. Workers will be required to constantly up-skill in order to complement the technology.
Written by: Saba Godiwala
Edited by: Diksha Rajput