The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented public health crisis that has led to staggering losses in economic activity and jobs. Even as the world grapples with containing the virus and stemming the economic haemorrhage, it is becoming clear that the pandemic is contributing to the accelerated deployment of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) automation technologies. The global labour market was already going through radical changes over the last few decades. According to World Economic Forum(WEF) the coronavirus pandemic has further accelerated the labour market’s transformation, which is going to take away 85 million jobs due to workforce automation but creates 97 million more. The technology revolution at the same time will generate 97 million new jobs in areas like artificial intelligence, content creation, cloud computing and green economy.

Factors:

• The process of indu­strial relocation in Western countries.
• The so-called technological revolution. So, the real need right now is to evaluate how the COVID-19 crisis will ­affect this ongoing transformation.
• Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that 1,400 million workers in the world (around 37.5% of the ­total workers) worked in vulnerable employment.

Pre-Pandemic Factors for 4IR Automation:

•   Labour Costs
•   Innovation in the Market
•   Capital Expenditure.
•   Occupation and Task

Post-Pandemic Factors for 4IR Automation:

•   Firm-Level Reorganisation
•   Constrained Labour Supply and Productivity.
•   Constrained Working Conditions for Women:
•   Elderly and Vulnerable Populations Retreat from the Workforce:
•   Change in Workers’ Preferences over Safety:
•   Low Interest Rates
•   Public Stimulus Packages That Support Business’ Adoption of Digital Solutions
•   Employment Limited to COVID-19 Immune Workers
•   Restrictions on Labour Mobility

Policy Implications:

•   Expand Social Safety Nets
•   Monitor Automation Trends Carefully
•   Support Workforce Upskilling and Retraining
•   Promote Human-Centred 4IR Ecosystems.
•   Regional Cooperation Towards Resilient, Innovative Economies

Way forward:

•   APEC economies should recognise that 4IR technologies – when managed effectively – can help economies reach higher levels of productivity at lower input costs while making entirely new industries and jobs possible.
•   The pressures of the COVID -19 crisis is an opportunity for APEC to rebuild better for the future in ways that will create new space for business dynamism and innovation while ensuring that economic growth is inclusive, sustainable, and resilient .
•   The real impact of AI and robo­tics on the labour market, strong chan­ges are expected to disrupt our societies.
•   Without employment providing a structure in the people’s lives and with technology replacing many human activities, our societies will likely shift towards more individualistic entities with less human interaction.
•   For this reason, ­human fulfilment should be considered a fundamental factor in the upcoming industrial revolution.
•   After all, if technology was created to make our lives easier and more efficient in terms of time and resources, we should wonder where the time saved goes to and even whether it is making us happier.