JOHAN STEYN: Will workplace technology automation badly affect women, in particular?
What can business do to balance the demand to lower operational costs and increase speed to market, while protecting the female workforce?
The Smart Technology era, commonly referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has catapulted platforms like robotic process automation (RPA), combined with cognitive technologies such as machine learning and smart automation, to become widely used. These platforms provide a unique opportunity to decrease operational costs while improving the cadence of digitisation and rapidly improving customer experience.
A burning issue facing business and societal leaders is the potential displacement of jobs due to smart automation. Will we be able to retain our workforce through effective upskilling initiatives, and how do we go about doing this? The question before us is whether smart automation will replace mostly female workers. We have made limited progress regarding gender equality in the job market, however, will this progress be invalidated due to automation?..
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