Are Machines Taking Away Our Jobs? The recent report by World Bank clearly brings up this "question" that has been haunting the economy of humanity ever since technology made its advent into the world

The world looked forward to technology comfortably making its way. They thought their work was going to get easy. Technology swept the world off its feet. Apart from making lives easier what it did was to bring immense prosperity. The world was uplifted as a whole economically. However, according to human nature, when something is afar, it seems like a distant, simple and unharmful object. The moment the object comes closer does one recognize the grandiosity or danger associated with it.

The recently released report by the World Bank raises many such arguments about technology, innovation and how it is impacting the nature of businesses.

The Tech Tide

It is true that the tide of technology has completely and irrevocably gripped the globe. The report clearly states that technology has "blurred the boundaries of the firm." It states that technology has definitely given companies an edge and so many of them have gone global or achieved global dominance with the aid of technology. The instances of IKEA and Alibaba provide weight to this argument. IKEA started expanding within Europe after 30 years of its existence. The annual sales revenue of it today is a monstrous US$ 42 billion. Today, it has come to East including India. Similarly, is the case with Jack Ma's Chinese conglomerate. The report says that Alibaba reached 1 million users in two years and accumulated more than 9 million online merchants and annual sales of $700 billion in 15 years.

Thus, technology has given the world the lense to explore and reach territories beyond human imagination or perhaps break the limitations that the human mind conveniently constructs. The report recognizes India-based start-up and Walmart acquired Flipkart has definitely pulled the correct strings nationally and internationally in the arena of virtual marketing

Robots v/s Human: Changes but No Regrets

The report recognizes that robots are the new obsession of the world. That, the robots have caught the fantasy of technocrats and their role is getting redefined is not an incorrect statement. Contrary to the belief that "robots replacing workers is striking a nerve," the threat to humanity from technology, is actually an exaggerated perception.

It is true that by far, history has been the biggest teacher to make us realize that the world cannot function merely on robots and that the human capital is inevitably required. It is true that technological shift is changing the nature of work but "whatever the future holds, investment in human capital is a no-regrets policy that prepares people for the challenges ahead."

The Rise and Influence of Social Media

The report is so accurately dealing with the issue of technology and innovation that it points out how with the advent of social media, the world is becoming a smaller place yet one that has cracks and gaps.

What does social media influence the most? Perception. The social media creates a heightened sense of self-leading to inequalities or feeling inferior. When a developing country sees the progress in a developed country, it inevitably makes them degrade their own soil no matter how unreasonable the comparison may be. "The refugee crises in Europe, the war-pushed migrants from the Syrian Arab Republic, and the Arab Spring are notable manifestations of this perception," says the report.

This report clears the air around many perceptions, pre-conceived notions and misinterpretations that the world has. It gives an insight into how the firms are relying on technology and yet they need humans to rely on!

Editor's Note:

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