Job creation is the most difficult task for any administration. Having a secure job with good prospects of advancement is the dream of those who aspire to be productive members of society. So it is understandable that many fret about the risk of losing their jobs to robots that are replacing humans in many industries.
In the 1970s the western world experienced yet another industrial revolution when manufacturing was most affected by the introduction of robots on factory floors. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claims that “for every robot per thousand workers, up to six workers lost their jobs and wages fell by as much as 0.75 per cent”.
This may not seem much, but robots and technological automation are now making inroads in services industries that in most countries are replacing manufacturing. Even the checking in of travellers and their luggage is now done through automated terminals in a number of airports. The advances in artificial intelligence will continue to put the jobs of thousands of persons employed in clerical and middle management jobs at risk.
A Eurobarometer survey published in May found that “82 per cent of Maltese thought the introduction of robotic technology would threaten their future job security”. Many are asking whether this fear is misplaced.
Economists are not in full agreement on whether robots are more of a threat than an opportunity for society. Some argue that while it is undeniable that some workers are likely to lose their jobs to robots, new and better jobs will be created so employment and wages would eventually return to their previous levels. Dock workers, for instance, have been generally replaced by cranes, but in the process new jobs were created for engineers and financiers. Robots, after all, need to be built with the skills of software developers and data analysts.
Other economists insist that the advances in robotic technology and its application in service as well as manufacturing industries will mean that many workers will lose their jobs at a stage in their lives where it will be difficult for them to find alternative work. Not every middle-aged clerk can have the aptitude of becoming a care worker even if the demand for care workers is constantly increasing.
The political strategy that needs to be adopted to cushion the effect of robotics in the jobs market must be well thought. A paper published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology argues that “automation, more than other factors like trade and offshoring that President Trump campaigned on, has been the bigger long-term threat to blue and white collar jobs”.
The reality is that robots are likely to complement instead of replacing humans. Robots cannot replicate human traits like common sense and empathy. But the waves of technology are getting bigger. Drones, driverless cars, and machine learning may make our lives easier but they will also put at risk jobs.
These fast developments put the onus of future career planning on our young people, their parents as well as on educationists.
We need to ask ourselves whether we are producing too many lawyers but too few engineers and ITC graduates. Political leaders will also need to come up with viable plans for those who lose their jobs to robots.