Robots vs Humans: policy challenges for future labour markets

Speech in the Economist Conference “ROBOTS VS HUMANS: POLICY CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE LABOUR MARKETS”

Christos Ioannou
Director, Employment and Labour Market affairs
SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me to this event. My introductory comment in this discussion aims to explain why in the Greek case having robots deployed in the Greek industries can be only positive for the current and the future labour market.

God created mankind in his own image; and male and female he created them. And the mankind, after many-many centuries, created the industrial revolutions, the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th, which is well underway.

The industrial and revolutionary Man created robots. As part of the 4th industrial revolution there is rapidly growing adoption of robots, mainly of industrial robots, in the last few years. This is reshaping the international division of labour and the world of work.

Robots are the epitome of new technology, of continued technological advancements in automation systems and artificial intelligence. They drive into a fundamental transition.

What stance should we adopt in front of the resulting, and largely unforeseen, challenges?

To answer this, I do not have but to quote the current Prime Minister of Sweden and co – chair of ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work, who quoted a friend of him – a former governor of Gothenburg, Social Democrat and union leader – Göran Johansson: “On a visit to a new industrial plant, he was asked what he thought when looking out over the high-tech industrial robots on the factory floor. He said: “I don’t fear new technology. What I fear is the old one.”

But we are not in Sweden. We are in Greece. If we had more time we could theorise, speculate, discuss and revive the old and revolving debates about deskilling, the degradation of work, reskilling, etc.

Unfortunately this is a luxury now for us in Greece.

To put it roughly: Our challenges, for the current and future labour markets, are not related to the adoption of robots. On the contrary, are linked with not having enough automation systems, digitalization and industrial robots deployed by industries in Greece.

The challenge is how we can exploit the potential of new technology and robots to bring about large productivity gains and make the new labour market as inclusive as possible.

The automation of production is accelerating around the world: 74 robot units per 10,000 employees is the new average of global robot density in the manufacturing industries (2015: 66 units). By regions, the average robot density in Europe is 99 units, in the Americas 84 and in Asia 63 units.