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‘Automation does not mean less jobs’, experts

By Bahaa Al Deen Al Nawas - Jul 23,2020 - Last updated at Jul 23,2020

AMMAN — The Jordan Labour Watch (JLW) has conducted interviews on the impact of automation on the public sector.

The interviews come in light of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Wednesday between the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and the Technology Strategies Middle East Company (TSME), representative of Automation Anywhere Inc.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz had described the status of the public sector as having an “excess capacity”, the JLW said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Thursday, citing official statistics indicating that there are 209,000 employees in the public sector, whose salaries amount to around JD1.6 billion.

The statistics requires those with a sense of stability to consider the gradual automation that the government has begun highlighting in mid-March, the statement said, noting that automation can be a threat to those whose jobs can be replaced with bots and automated services.

“While there is always a price for automation at some point, it does not mean that there will be less jobs, but rather means there will be new jobs, possibility in different areas, so employees would only need to acquire new skills,” Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan (Int@j) CEO Nidal Bitar told The Jordan Times on Thursday over the phone.

Bitar said that automation and use of bots should not cause any panic amongst public sector workers, as all they will need is to improve their set of skills. 

“Automation improves transparency and will expedite processes, minimising human error,” he said, noting that instead of laying off employees, it would be best to train them and utilise their skills in integration with bots and automation.

“Everyone must adapt to the changes,” he said, commending the government’s approach into automating services and training employees on robotic process automation.

Economist Munir Hamarneh told the JLW that out of principle, improving management through technology is important, but the process should also heed the economic and social repercussions.

“When discussing the use of technology and automation, we need to take into consideration two conditions; the first is the importance of change in the capabilities of management, and the second is the impact on employees and the social reaction, because the process could mean increasing unemployment, which will lead to chaos,” Hamarneh told the JLW.

The JLW quoted former secretary general of the Labour Ministry Hamadah Abu Nejmeh as saying that “the use of technology is supposed to generate jobs, which is possible and important, especially as automation helps simplify measures.”

While some government jobs require automation, that does not necessarily mean laying off employees, but rather expedite their work, he added.

Quoting the Department of Statistics, the statement says that the unemployment rate reached 19.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020. It adds that the rate is expected to rise in light of the coronavirus crisis and its repercussions on the economy. 

 

 

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