As I drove through one of the gantries along one of Johannesburg's highways recently, I wondered how it can be that someone’s job is to sit inside a cubicle and point at a card machine for motorists and then get paid at month end?
The situation was that only card payments were accepted at the toll gate and all the attendant had to do was to punch the right amount into the machine, point it at a motorist and the motorist taps their card. The barrier opens and the motorist drives through. Try to automate this process and so much dust will be raised, unions will rise up in arms as people’s livelihoods are being threatened here.
It is after all the union’s job to protect its members. In 2016, when news broke that Pick n Pay was to try out self-service checkout points at its Observatory branch in Cape Town, Cosatu and its affiliate, the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union, rose to the occasion to stop the proliferation of such machines as they were seen as a possible threat that would lead to job losses.
One of the agitations of the “FeesMustFall” movement was the absorption of contract workers and that universities must stop outsourcing support staff. These are all noble causes, given the fact that job losses affect the previously disadvantaged.
The call centre world is slowly being taken over by chatbots, robots are delivering supplies to guests in hotels, 3D printers are building houses, while courses in Ivy League universities are now open to all people.
I do not think computers, IT or the 4th Industrial Revolution will steal jobs, I think jobs simply evolve. No-one could have stolen the photography market from the camera film stronghold Kodak, but the force of disruptive technology eventually cost Kodak so much as it entered the digital market too late.
As analogue photography declined, many more photographers were created, albeit digital ones. As old-school music production declined, many more music producers emerged. In the SA of today, many jobs are being protected only through political discourse and radical arguments of being electorally correct.
The reality faced of late is that if you can resist technology, can you resist a change of lifestyle forced by the pandemic? I think the answer is not. Supermarkets are seeing a drastic reduction in their footfall; many more people are shopping online.
A research by Stellenbosch University shows that “convenience” plays a huge part in why people shop online. Retail stores all over the country are expanding their kerbside pickup service and of course their online shopping experiences.
The fear of corona, they say, is the beginning of wisdom; reasonable people are avoiding crowded places, protecting themselves as much as they can and if there are things that can be done in a contactless manner, they take that option.
The nature of jobs is changing, remote working is now here to stay, so, rather than complain, why not adapt? A call centre agent can learn an IT support certification during their spare time. According to Rob Thomas of IBM, this is the new normal and the current pandemic simply accelerated what would have happened anyway.
People should start poising for the inevitable and start looking for ways of being resilient rather than resistant. As a lecturer, I know that post Covid-19, at best we would be returning to blended learning, there is never going to be a time where classes would be 100% classroom-based again.
So while we moan about the virus's effect on the economy which has resulted in a jobs bloodbath, I think it is worthwhile for the government to consider retraining or upskilling for those who have and will inevitably lose their jobs during this time.
* Dr Ijasan is an associate professor at the school of construction economics and management at Wits University.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.