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8 Reasons why Automation will lead to more jobs and Higher Pay

August 5, 2020

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My aunt runs a coaching centre, empowering elders and tech- novice individuals with the knowledge and skills to use mobile and digital applications.

These were physical classroom sessions conducted in a closed environment which obviously needed transformation as the world shifted to digital mediums for communication and learning post COVID-19.

The first challenge for her was to enable the learners to use technology so that they may learn technology through that technology. Before you begin thinking this is a Nolan film(within a film), I’ll get to the point.

Moving to digital modes for learning led to an added team member for her. One who’d manage the digital platform while she could focus on teaching.

The story of automation will possibly follow the story of my aunt’s (online) coaching space- Process automation leading to seamless workflow and an enabled workforce to handle and manage the new workflow.

Job Losses or Higher Pay

COVID 19 and the resulting economic impact is expected to lead to faster adoption of automation.1

As accelerated automation disrupts the way we work, there are multiple opportunities emerging for students and employees.

Building an automation led empowered workforce ; Image by Michal Parzucho

The diagram below depicts the percentage of roles/responsibilities that are likely to be automated. (Source McKinsey Global Institute)


A few implications that imply good news for the future workforce:

1.Complete Automation is unlikely-
It is worth noting that while automation will lead to job loss, the job roles which can be completely automated is only 5%.1 The anxiety with respect to unforeseen automation is real, while the real deal may end up being surprisingly different with enablement of the workforce as opposed to endangering it.

2.Evolved EQ and Cognition-

While automation irons out process related tasks making them more seamless, human cognition and emotional quotient is hard to replicate. Imagine ‘Chitti the Robot’ in the film Enthiran without his creator Dr. Vaseekaran(Rajneekant). Impossible!
This will lead to humans embracing better opportunities leading to their personal growth and development.

3.Greater Pay with better jobs-
While the diagram above depicts the percentage of jobs that are likely to be automated, it is interesting to note how skilled workforces with skills like sewing and sorting will resort to evolved roles and therefore a better pay. For example, Shimmy, a Brooklyn based fashion tech company introduced AI across several aspects of the organization leaving skilled labourers anxious about loss of jobs. The workforce was ultimately trained to adopt technology and embrace evolved roles with deeper knowledge and better pay.2

4.Empowering humans with creative thought –
Creativity and innovation are human traits and cannot be fully automated(at least in the near future). This will lead to better opportunities and scope for more creative leaders and innovators.

5.Embracing technology with reduced effort-
Just like my aunt’s example above, embracing automation may be a challenge to begin with but eventually makes things simpler in the long run enabling more people and reducing manual labour in mundane tasks.

6.Smarter people, Smarter Economy-
A study conducted by Deloitte, UK found that while 800,000 low-skilled jobs were eliminated due to the rise of automation, a staggering 3.5 million higher-skilled new jobs were created, and the new jobs paid an average $13,000 more per year.1Skilled people, smarter economy!

Image by Micheile-Henderson

7.Division of labour has a new contender-
The World Economic Forum has predicted an increase in net employment by 58 million as a result of new roles which are adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms. In near-term, as per forecast of COVID-19 impact on jobs, 6.7% of global working hours are set to be lost in Q2 2020 – equivalent of 195 million full-time jobs.

8.Greater demand for certain job functions-
The diagram below depicts the projection of demand for a workforce in 2022. Aviation & Travel, Information & Communication Technologies and Professional Services will see a marked rise in workforce expansion resulting from automation. This is both surprising and interesting since it opens doors for upskilling in areas like :

-Data Analysis
-Data Science
-Big Data
-AI and Machine Learning
-Social and Digital Mediums

Automation in the long run will also have an impact on jobs which are highly skilled (Phase 3 –Around 2030). However, the industry will start benefitting from automation initiatives that have been implemented already. An evolved workforce with better skills will soon emerge resulting the evolution of human skills as automation increases.

Here’s the complete dose of how Automation will impact businesses in the post COVID era for you.

Are you excited for an Automation Enabled post COVID world? Tell us what you think?

References:

  1. COVID-19 – Tipping point for automation. (2020, April 15). NASSCOM Community |The Official Community of Indian IT Industry. https://community.nasscom.in/communities/covid-19/automation-impact-on-jobs-assessing-possibilities-of-greater-automation-and-more-jobs.html
  2. In the age of automation, technology will be essential to reskilling the workforce. (n.d.). World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/how-tech-can-lead-reskilling-in-the-age-of-automation/

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Yashika Begwani
Chief Everything Officer

Yashika Begwani

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