Social Risks and Challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution in Latin America

SUSANA FINQUELIEVICH

Khanty Mansysk

Congreso; Fourth International Conference?Tangible and Intangible Impact of Communication and Information in the Digital Age?; 2022

UNESCO / Information for All Program

Impacts of Industry 4.0 on work•Will jobs disappear with the arrival of robots in Latin America? •How will this technological transformation change how we work?•How can workers prepare and adapt to the 4th industrial revolution?•How should educational systems change to make young people successful in the new labor market?The future of work in LA is marked by two major trends:The technological tsunami linked to Industry 4.0 and population ageing•Industry 4.0: “the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, including cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing and creating the smart factory”.•Population ageing: currently, around 8% of the population in Latin America is 65 years of age or older. •By 2050 this figure is expected double to 17.5%, and to exceed 30% by the end of the centuryBoth trends are of a positive nature (they provide us the opportunity to live longer, abandon more repetitive work, and increase our quality of life) and present a great opportunity for the region. They also represent risks. The revolution may hit Argentina’s, Brazil’s and Chile’s labour market (ABC countries) much harder than the central European countries (IDB, 2018)Main products exported by the ABC countries are commodities: meat, soybeans, corn, iron ore, copper, trucks. Also software and knowledge intensive goods and servicesABC countries do not produce many “unique” products•Industry 4.0 needs high investments in the development and implementation of those technologies •ABC countries will act mainly as importers and adopters of the technologies and new processes•This can obstruct the prospects of generating high valued jobs. •Manual work will come under increasing pressure from IoT and smart machines •It is estimated that in 30 years that robot and machines will carry out half of the jobs performed by Chileans. (IFAIR)Automation affects the structure of employment•The current process of automation will probably not make a very large indent on the rate of employment in LA •It is more likely to considerably affect the structure of employment•Unskilled and especially semiskilled workers are likely to endure a disproportionate share of the adjustment costs•The automatability of their occupations is higher compared to skilled workers•Automation will probably be a more severe menace for income equality than for overall employmentDiverse kinds of transitions  Impacts of automation•Rather than massive unemployment the net effect should be seen in the restructuring of a maximum of 15% to 25% of the job market (UNESCO, 2020)•Job polarization (deskilling of some jobs and skilling of others) may be another effect, contributing to the inequalities of the region. •The question is not so much whether there will be jobs as what kind of jobs there will be.•Technological change does not only affect advanced industry nor is it limited to automation •The probable changes in the International Division of Labour should be acknowledged •The macroeconomic, social, and cultural impacts of these transformations will be relevant to the region as a whole, regardless of whether specific sectors incorporate technology or not Technology 4.0 and ageing•Older workers have accumulated practices and knowledge during their working lifetime•How Industry 4.0 can empower older workers to stay active and productive for a longer time?•Important re-education and continuous training of the workforce will be necessary to leverage the operational efficiency of cyber-physical systems•Leveraging the accumulated knowledge and experience of older workers and automation of physically demanding tasks can:•improve productivity•ease the development of occupational diseases•and decrease the costs of ill-health related expendituresNew policies are strongly needed•In the short and medium term, dislocation can be harsh for certain types of work; inequality may rise•Most affected groups of workers: the less educated, the oldest and the youngsters•This effect calls for public policies to level the adjustments caused by modifications in demand against low and medium paid jobs