Pandemic Accelerates Robot Age In Many Global Companies

Photo illustration (Andy Kelly / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Robots will eliminate 85 million jobs in medium to large businesses over the next five years. Research from the World Economic Forum (WEF) said the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating change in the workplace.

A survey of nearly three hundred global companies found four in five business executives are accelerating plans to digitize work and deploy new technology. The impact is an emphasis on labor absorption.

This process actually happened since the 2007-2008 financial crisis. And the pandemic accelerates it. "COVID-19 is accelerating the arrival of the future of work," said WEF managing director, Saadia Zahidi, quoted Wednesday, October 21.

For workers who are determined to continue playing their roles in the next five years, nearly half will need to learn new skills. And by 2025, entrepreneurs will divide the tasks for humans and machines equally, according to the research.

Overall, job creation is slowing and job losses are accelerating as companies around the world use technology instead of workers for data entry, accounting and administrative tasks.

The good news is that more than 97 million jobs will emerge across the care economy, in technology industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), and in content creation, according to the Geneva-based WEF.

"The tasks to which humans are assigned to maintain their comparative advantage include managing, advising, making decisions, considering, communicating and interacting," he said.

Demand will increase for workers capable of filling green economy jobs, cutting-edge data and AI functions, as well as new roles in engineering, cloud computing and product development.

The WEF survey found that around 43 percent of companies are determined to reduce their workforce as a result of technology integration, 41 percent plan to expand their use of contractors, and 34 percent envision expanding their workforce due to technological integrity.