ARE JOBS AT RISK?

BY Rehan Fernando

There have been concerns about migrant workers taking jobs that would’ve been available to locals. The discussion has focussed on job cuts as a result of the global economic downturn. But are importing skill sets and economic cycles the real threat – or is it something greater?

Technological substitution may be the key challenge for labour markets in most countries around the world in the longer term. Here are some examples of this phenomenon, which is causing more than a little concern.

CHATTING The customer services industry created thousands of employment opportunities in the last two decades – especially in call centres. Today, chatbot software is able to engage in meaningful conversations and provide relevant information, much like how a human would interact. The result is the substitution of a human workforce by one driven by software.

DRIVING In this instance, it’s a case of taxi drivers compared to autonomous vehicles. Taxi and tuk-tuk drivers account for a considerable share of the workforce, and the livelihoods of many households rely on this business.

The introduction of autonomous vehicles (sometimes referred to as ‘self-driving cars’) in the near future could be the biggest blow to employment in this sector because it can potentially render hundreds of thousands redundant and unemployed. While the autonomous era is more or less inevitable, realigning skills for alternative job roles well in advance could mitigate the impact.

DELIVERING Courier and delivery riders face a threat from drones, which are being pilot tested as an alternative to human couriers. Aerial drones wouldn’t be affected by traffic jams, parking space constraints and administrative hassles.

They will be more cost effective too. Whether delivering an online purchase or food order, it’s possible that a drone could be at your doorstep instead of a delivery person in the not too distant future. Once again, a considerable number of jobs would be lost as a result.

ASSISTING The administrative staff of organisations could face a challenge from virtual assistants as they may soon replace human secretaries and personal assistants.

Virtual assistants are now able to respond to questions, automatically digitalise dictated notes, source information, plan diaries, make travel bookings and in some instances even make recommendations. Corporate executives have also become more reliant on technology, making it possible for many of them to manage with a digital alternative rather than a human secretary.

HOUSEKEEPING Smart home technology, cleaning bots, automated baby monitors and other such innovations are reducing the need for staff to manage households. Countries that are considerably dependent on remittances from migrant workers – especially in household roles – could experience a fall in inward remittances on the one hand, and the need to create alternative employment opportunities for those workers on the other.

ASSEMBLING Assembly line workers are under threat of redundancy due to robotic process automation. Many factories across varied industries have turned to automation to improve operational efficiencies and maximise output. A human workforce requires rest, minimum wages and consistency of work; and usually, such a workforce is impacted by a range of factors.

Most of the drawbacks of a manual workforce are overcome through automation and the result is that while industry will continue to grow, it won’t necessarily create additional job opportunities. The greatest impact is likely to be in operational roles but skilled professionals could also face the risk of technological substitution.


ANALYSING Companies have relied on analysts to examine a range of data sources, identify trends and make recommendations that could help overall outcomes. With advanced analytics, it has now becomes possible to examine multiple data sources simultaneously and more comprehensively. These systems are able to identify trends, highlight outliers and sometimes leverage predictive analytics capabilities, as well as provide recommendations.

So what happens to the need for a human expert to perform such a role? Consider a system that’s able to learn much faster, has a good memory and no mood swings, and is able to examine a large number of scenarios in a matter of microseconds. That will be the competition that AI will bring to the professional workplace.

EMAILING The introduction of email a few decades ago triggered a significant transformation in the postal industry. And the role of the postal worker that was pivotal to the communication process for decades became less relevant in a few years.

RE-SKILLING While the headcount in some job roles have fallen drastically over the years, others have begun to gain more popularity and roles such as data scientists, which didn’t exist previously, have emerged.

At the same time, it’s unlikely that there will be a substitute for human instinct in the near future; and fortunately, this is possibly the most important trait of all. These are some thoughts that both employers and employees need to ponder. They will have to decide whether it’s time to upskill or re-skill themselves to survive in a world that’s being taken over by technology.