7 lakh people to go jobless in IT and BPO sector by 2022: This one-point formula will keep you afloat

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September 7, 2017

There are both good and bad news for those worried about predicted job losses in India's IT sector.

First the bad news: A report by US-based research firm HfS Research says around 7 lakh low skilled workers in IT/BPO industry in India are expected to lose their jobs to automation and artificial intelligence by 2022.

September 7, 2017

There are both good and bad news for those worried about predicted job losses in India's IT sector.

First the bad news: A report by US-based research firm HfS Research says around 7 lakh low skilled workers in IT/BPO industry in India are expected to lose their jobs to automation and artificial intelligence by 2022.

The report says a rise in adoption of automation and artificial intelligence would lead to a fall in the number of low skilled workers in India's IT and BPO service sectors from 2.4 million in 2016 to 1.7 million in 2022.

However, there is nothing to be worried about for medium and high-skilled workers.

The good news is that the report predicts a significant rise in medium and high skilled jobs in India by 2022. According to HfS Research, the number of medium skilled jobs in IT/BPO industry are expected to rise from 900,000 to 1 million by 2022. Similarly, the number of high skilled jobs may rise to 510,000 in 2022 from 320,000 in 2016.

The prediction for IT and BPO/Jobs in India are in line with the global trends. Across the world, increasing adoption of automation and artificial intelligence is predicted to kill around 31% low skilled jobs in this sector, while the medium skill jobs may rise by 13 per cent and high skill jobs by 57 per cent.

Globally, the adoption of automation and artificial technology are predicted to lead to a 7.5% fall in jobs, majorly hitting countries like India, the US and the UK

Survival formula

Now the Big question: How to survive amid the changing jobs scenario in IT/BPO sector? Only answer to this is that you will have to improve your skills, or shift to other lucrative sectors, if your skill set doesn't conform to medium or high skill criteria demanded by IT/BPO sector.

The HfS Research says that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has accelerated the elimination of routine jobs in the sector. However, you still have at least five years to improve your skills in this highly competitive sector, as the report says, "the next five years we can manage, it's the five after that when the impact on labour becomes much more challenging."


Courtesy/Source: The Financial Express