The rise of automation and the dawn of robots in manufacturing is now becoming so mainstream that its no longer a ‘futuristic’ proposition.
In one of the largest terminations ever recorded in human history, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn has decided to fire 60,000 employees in one single go. Earlier this factory based out of Kunshan in Jiangsu province of China had 110,000 employees, but now, it will only have 50,000 human employees.
Robots have been introduced in a massive manner, and tasks of these 60,000 terminated employees would now be done by these robots.
Department’s head Xu Yulian said, “The Foxconn factory has reduced its employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000, thanks to the introduction of robots. It has tasted success in reduction of labour costs,”
And the interesting aspect is that, almost all of the 600 major manufacturing companies based in Kunshan are about to fire humans, and assign their tasks to robots. In fact, 35 biggest manufacturing companies from Taiwan, including iPhone’s main manufacturer Foxconn have spent a collective 4 billion yuan or HK$4.74 on improving and optimizing automation.
And this recent termination of 60,000 humans is just the start.
The Rise of Automation in India: Story So Far
Termination of 60,000 employees in one single go is no small news; and despite this happening in China, Indian employees and workers should be informed, educated and alert about the major transformation which is inevitable, and happening really fast.
Earlier this year, we reported that top Indian IT companies hired 24% less employees; and automation is the reason for this sharp decline. Cognizant Technologies was the company which was impacted to the max, as they hired 74.6% less employees in 2015, solely due to rise in automation.
Just like Taiwanese manufacturers, Indian IT biggies like Infosys and other companies are increasingly spending their capital on automation research and development, because they are aware that this is the future.
Nasscom has already stated that 50% of all IT jobs in India will vanish as automation and robots will take over the jobs in India; World Economic Forum or WEF has predicted that automation, robotics and technology will kill 51 lakh jobs by 2020.
What if these jobless people join ISIS or band together and form a similar killing outfit ?
Or What if the economy collapses due to chain reaction ?
that might also be taken over by robots