Make Way For The Machines

The new age of automation and technological advances is all set to alter job profiles across various sectors in India. A recent report, Future of Jobs in India — a 2022 Perspective claims that a considerable amount of jobs could face an existential threat over the next five years. By 2022, owing to the adoption of exponential technologies, 9% of the workforce would be deployed in new jobs that do not exist today in the organised sector, and 37% would be deployed in jobs that would have radically changed skill sets.   

The 2017 World Robot Statistics, issued by the International Federation of Robotics, states that currently in India, there are three robots installed in the manufacturing industry per 10,000 employees, which is below the world average of 74. The report predicts that robot installations will increase from 2,065 units in 2015 to 6,000 units in 2022. 

While new job opportunities in the IT industry are emerging, net hiring has taken a hit. According to a Nasscom report, net hiring in the IT sector has gone down from 203,000 in FY16 to 175,000 in FY17. By 2022, the Future of Jobs in India report predicts that job roles such as voice-based services (call centre agents), data entry operators, document processing, system administrators may soon become automated. Looks like, India’s  machine over man reality could be here sooner than one thinks.