Millions of Asean jobs at risk from automation: UN body: Page 2 of 5

 
Staving off the robot invasion

Millions of Asean jobs at risk from automation: UN body: Page 2 of 5 

If there is one ‘silver lining’ in all this, it’s that the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, which forms the backbone of the Asean economy, is not exactly a “hotbed of innovation,” according to Rynhart.
 
Most of the SMEs in the region that adopt technology are either foreign companies or tier one suppliers to foreign companies.
 
Most “companies say they aren’t taking up technology because it is still expensive,” he added.
 
While automotive companies are adopting robotics and automation for low-skilled and repetitive jobs, what the sector really needs are people with higher skills, argued Chang Jae-Hee, regional project director of the ILO’s Bureau for Employers’ Activities.
 
“About 70% of the people we interviewed said it is very difficult to find these skillsets,” she said.
 
‘What we need is a workforce that is highly talented and takes up STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses,” she added.
 

Millions of Asean jobs at risk from automation: UN body: Page 2 of 5

 
The electrical and electronics sector currently does not have robotics or automation that can carry out complex processes that humans can do, according to Chang, also a co-author of the report.
 
“Electronics are so nanoscale and the components so small that robots don’t have the flexibility or the dexterity to handle the intricate processes that only humans can,” she said, but warned that robotics is coming in and taking over lower-skilled jobs, including assembly.
 
Robotics technology is also getting better all the time, “and we will definitely see more robotics coming in,” she added.
 

Millions of Asean jobs at risk from automation: UN body: Page 2 of 5

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