As automation and technology is exponentially increasing within the world today, millions of lives are being lost, destroyed, and impaired. With nearly 20 million manufacturing jobs being lost by 2030, technology is dominating societies internationally. This means that within 10 years, automation will account for 3-14% of all the world’s workforces . Expansion of these new technologies are spreading quickly with countries like China, Singapore and Germany having a ratio of 322 manufacturing units for every 10,000 employees within 2021 alone. Other prominent countries include South Korea, one of the highest automation producers in the world. The country loses nearly 11,000 workers per month due to lack of opportunities and education. Furthermore, the average daily output of wages, ever since automation took over, has been 0.9 cents to 6.1 dollars within the South East Asian region, averaging out to a loss of 87% in wages. With technological advances including analytical intelligence, human-machine interaction and advanced production, our society is in dire need of advocacy to international communities.
Furthermore, the security of these workers are likely to be at severe risk due to ethical concerns and safety precautions of these automation systems. For example, 52% of companies internationally were able to establish an outline for Industry 4.0 technology or also known as automation, but only 13% were able to fully implement this without constant errors in systems. This takes away nearly 10.9 billion dollars from the overall wages of industrial workers, with the number tripling by 2026 (5). In addition, issues including cyber security risks were commonly seen not only throughout the process of implementation, but after they were being put to use. Labor workers who must work with semi-automation machines will continue to face extreme risks and experience several disadvantages along with a low pay wage. As 30-50% of automation projects fail, this allows unauthorized access and data breaches, allowing labor workers to be watched through surveillance footage.
To prevent the usage of autonomous machines worldwide and protect the rights of workers, the United Nations (UN) has issued resolution A/69/313 which addresses economic issues within industrialization through generating full productive employment for labor workers within small and medium enterprises. This effectively addressed economic diversification within growth of automation and jobs, and allowed for a steady salary within the working industry. Furthermore, the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) created the Centenary Declaration of the Future of Work, paying particular attention to education, growth, and training systems of labor workers and enhancing workers’. This allowed for the capacity of job opportunities and economic growth within automation by 64%.
Communities are taking immediate action in order to advocate for labor workers. For example, the No Robot Bosses Act legislation based in the United States was recently initiated in 2023 which protected job applicants from automated employment decisions. With safeguarding labor workers, this legislation also partnered with the Stop Spying Bosses Act which prevented the use of technologies and security issues in labor working industries. This was implemented through establishing prohibitions on a government level through creating a White House Task Form in December 2022. With this legislation, it impacted the US Department of Labor and Technology with Worker Protection from February 2023 with an increase in job employment within 2023 by empowering employment.
Comments