Labor group alarmed by DTI’s bleak projections for workers

MANILA, Philippines — The labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) yesterday expressed concern over the recent pronouncement of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) that millions of workers could lose their jobs due to automation.

According to ALU-TUCP executive vice president Gerard Seno, the government unemployment insurance schemes or programs should help displaced workers and minimize the impact of the automation or the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“We can confirm that workers – particularly in agriculture, retail and manufacturing – are now being impacted with only one employee left operating a machine in a production line that used to be manned by 5-10 workers,” he said.

Based on online Encyclopedia Britannica, the Fourth Industrial Revolution “heralds a series of social, political, cultural and economic upheavals that will unfold over the 21st century.”

Built on the widespread availability of digital technologies that were the result of the Third Industrial, or Digital, Revolution, this era will be “driven largely by the convergence of digital, biological and physical innovations.”

Seno noted that with enterprises resorting to “robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) in selling products and services,” workers stand to lose their jobs to the detriment of their and their families’ welfare and future.

He said the affected workers might have difficulty coping through training for new skills needed to adapt to the innovation if government will not be able to provide adequate and inexpensive programs to train the soon to be displaced workers.

Last week, DTI Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba warned the people that 18.2 million workers could lose their jobs over the next five to six years due to the automation of industry.

It was estimated that some six million workers from the agriculture sector, 3.4 million in retail and 2.4 million in manufacturing sectors would be affected.