ZCZC
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GERMANY-EMPLOYMENT-SOCIAL-OECD
Rich nations must help workers adapt to automation: OECD
BERLIN, April 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Robots and computers threaten 14 percent
of existing jobs over the next 20 years, so countries must retrain workers
for a transformed labour market, the OECD warned Thursday.
In a report published in Berlin, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) estimates that in addition to the destruction of jobs
and entire trades, an additional 32 percent of current jobs are likely to be
“deeply transformed” by automation in the work place.
According to OECD General Secretary Angel Gurria, the lack of preparation
for the looming digital age is a time bomb on social and political levels.
“It is important that people feel that they will be supported if they lose
out, and helped in their search for new and better opportunities,” he said in
a foreword to the report.
Already, “people and communities have been left behind by globalisation and
a digital divide persists,” Gurria added, pointing to “inequalities along
age, gender, and socio-economic lines”.
Many of those who have lost out “are stuck in precarious working
arrangements with little pay and limited or no access to social protection,
lifelong learning and collective bargaining,” he noted.
The OECD’s researchers found 56 percent of adults in the 36 OECD member
countries — among them economic giants like the United States, Japan or
Germany — have only “basic” or non-existent information and communication
technology (ICT) skills.
As a priority, the OECD recommends that member countries, also including
Canada, Chile or Britain, offer “more flexible” retraining compatible with
employees’ working hours to make it more attractive.
While some governments such as that in France offer financial support for
lifelong learning, firms especially in the US are often reluctant to invest
in their staff’s skills.
The OECD also highlighted a growing trend towards self-employment, with one
in seven workers in the club of rich countries working for themselves, while
one in nine was on a temporary contract.
Such working relationships often make employees ineligible for training or
retraining opportunities.
BSS/AFP/HR/1408