Jobs in services industry at risk due to automation

CEBU, Philippines — Employees in the services sector are bound to lose their jobs due to automation in the era of fourth industrial revolution (4IR).

A study recently conducted by Asian Institute of Management (AIM) entitled “Mapping the 4IR At-Risk Workers in the Philippines,” revealed that about 16 percent of all jobs in the Philippines are included in the top 50 most at-risk occupations.

By sector, the services industry has the greatest share of at-risk workers at 26.8 percent.

The paper recently published by AIM’s Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness, also indicated that aside from services, workers from the industry and agriculture sectors are also at risk of job displacements, unless they are ready to handle other job assignments.

By sub-sector, finance and insurance has the highest share of high-risk workers at 68.3 percent, along with professional, scientific, and technical activities (49.1%), wholesale and retail trade (41.6%), real estate (34.2%), and information and communication (32.7%).

In terms of educational attainment, occupations of workers with higher educational attainment are more at-risk of being automated, in comparison to the jobs of workers that are relatively less educated.

Among those with a college degree or higher, 28.4 percent have jobs in the high-risk classification.

The share for college undergraduates is only slightly smaller at 27.0 percent and it declines significantly with educational attainment.

The study, is expected to change the nature of jobs and the way people work, largely through the automation of tasks using computing technology, artificial intelligence, and advanced robotics.

Already, the Software Industry Association (PSIA), and the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) had been warning companies to prepare for the effects of technology disruptions which will substitute mostly a huge chunk of [entry-level] human function.

"Robotics Process Automation is here. And it is going to take away jobs of those in the lower rank of the ladder," warned Jonathan de Luzuriaga, president of the PSIA.

"We need to look at the impact of emerging technology in the way we do business and in hiring talents to join the industry," added De Luzuriaga.

De Luzuriaga, who is also the former executive director for Industry Affairs of the IBPAP, said that the technology growth areas and talent development are the vital factors that the country needs to prepare for the nearing full digital future.

He said companies should look beyond and align themselves in hiring digitally-fluent workforce.

What is needed in the near future are people who functions more than what the robots can do, he said.

The era of smartphones and other advanced digital tools have opened up a new dimension for talent qualifications such as computational thinking, social intelligence, novel adaptive thinking, a design mindset, new media literate, cognitive lead management, and cross-cultural competencies. (FREEMAN)