The new technologies are not all good. A recent study published by the World Economic Forum shows that the development of connected objects could lead to the elimination of close to 5 million jobs in the next five years.
The effects of the fourth industrial revolution could be harmful, according to the report released by the World Economic Forum, organizer of the Davos forum that took place last week. This mutation could result in the loss of five million jobs by 2021 in the major global economies. Not only would it disrupt the labour market but it would also be the source of major changes in existing business models. The fourth industrial revolution combines connected objects and big data, two elements that could irreversibly transform existing economic models. Fifteen developed or emerging markets could be affected by this massive loss of jobs, such as the United States, China, Brazil, France or even Germany.
Action targeting the medium term
To mitigate it, targeted action would be needed starting now to manage this transition in the medium term and train a workforce with the essential skills for the future, the report believes. Governments will nonetheless need to overcome exponential unemployment and even more marked inequalities. The population of working women will also be affected by this economic turmoil. The disappearance of these 5.1 million jobs related to automation is likely to affect 52% of working men and 48% of working women, the study shows. However, the with the proportion of women in the working population being less than men, the gap between men and women could widen even more.