A new
study by the ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities examines how technology is
affecting workplaces in five major sectors across the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the transformation that enterprises and workers can
expect in the next decade.
The
report on ASEAN in Transformation: How Technology is Changing Jobs and
Enterprises found the potential for growth and employment presented by advanced
technologies, such as additive manufacturing, robotics and the Internet of
Things (IoT), are considerable. More than 60 percent of enterprises surveyed
see these technologies as a positive for increasing sales, labor productivity
and employment of highly skilled workers.
The
research, based on two ASEAN-wide surveys of more than 4,000 enterprises and
2,700 students, and qualitative interviews with more than 330 stakeholders in
ASEAN and beyond, examines how technology has an impact on workplaces in the
sectors of automotive and auto parts; electrical and electronics; textiles,
clothing and footwear; business process outsourcing; and retail.
According
to the study, the robot age is already a reality among ASEAN manufacturers who
have been incrementally introducing robotic automation to improve productivity,
quality, consistency, and workplace safety. Critically, widespread use of
robots does not automatically lead to job replacement. Current trends reveal
robots being deployed in a human-centric, collaborative way to raise the
productivity of higher skilled workers, rather than replace them.
However,
in labor-intensive sectors such as textiles, clothing and footwear, which
provide more than 9 million jobs in ASEAN, the majority of whom are young
women, the situation is different. Here, lower skilled jobs are particularly
vulnerable to disruptive technologies, like additive manufacturing and automation.
This could reduce export growth as destination markets in Europe and the United
States bring production back home. The subsequent social consequences could be
particularly significant for some ASEAN economies such as Cambodia and Viet
Nam.
The report
warns that while mass scale job displacement is not imminent, the technology to
replace mainly lower skilled jobs in ASEAN will increasingly be adopted as its
cost declines and innovations become accessible to even small-sized
enterprises. The report estimates that about 56 percent of all salaried
employment in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, is
at high risk of displacement due to technology in the next couple of decades.
Deborah
France-Massin, Director for the ILO’s Bureau for Employers’ Activities said:
“Countries that compete on low-wage labor need to reposition themselves. Price
advantage is no longer enough. Policymakers need to create a more conducive
environment that leads to greater human capital investment, research and
development, and high-value production.”
The
report recommends that workforces have to be appropriately trained with sound
core skills that allow them to adapt as well as strong technical skills to
handle new technologies and work effectively alongside digitalized machines.
However,
according to the research, while enterprises across the region are increasingly
seeking workers with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
qualifications, young people – in particular young women – are not choosing to
study STEM subjects. Only 17 percent of female students surveyed indicated they
were doing STEM courses.
The
research underlines the challenge facing policymakers, enterprises, and workers
in navigating the transformative changes in labor markets, particularly in
developing systems for skills and training that can prepare the future
workforce with the technical and core skills they need to cope with the coming
changes.
Rechelle Tangcangco
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