HR in Changing Times
HR leaders from Delhi discussed the need for newer strategies to prepare for the future.
- Apr 16, 2016,
- Updated Apr 20, 2016 10:07 AM IST
March 9 was a Wednesday, but that did not stop a horde of HR executives making a beeline to Delhi's ITC Maurya, where the Business Today Knowledge Forum on Human Resources was being held, with panel discussions on two current and relevant subjects (a) The job crisis: Where will the jobs be if everything gets automated? (b) Talent acquisition: Changing environment, changing strategies.
The first topic started off with Siddhartha Singh, Senior Vice President and Head (BPO), NIIT Technologies, saying that till two years ago, people thought services would not get impacted by automation. "But two years ago, robotic process automation came in, which involves use of virtual robots, and 30-40 per cent of services jobs will get automated in the next three to four years."
Tapan Mitra, Chief Advisor, Apollo Tyres, said that new technologies and automation will certainly displace some jobs to some extent. "When we set up a new plant, we will obviously look at the best of machines. So, the manpower in our newer plant is one-third that of our older plant." At the same time, he pointed out that there are jobs done by unskilled labour, which continue despite the robotics and automation. Automating all processes also entails huge costs, he said.
Ajit Kumar, Head-HR, Philips India, said tremendous changes were happening in the healthcare industry, some of them in cardiovascular. Today, the number of heart surgeries has shot up exponentially compared to two decades ago, and much of this has to do with automation. But he has not seen major job loss happening because of automation.
Amit Kumar Srivastava, Head of Sales-India, SE Asia and Middle East, Bosch, said that the advancement of automation will bring to the fore new kinds of jobs. "For example, you will find the quality control department flooded with industrial scientists. If robots come, who is going to program and control the robots? So, you will have robot coordinators," he said, adding that there will also be products as a service, so a different kind of sales force will come in.
Nishchae Suri, Partner and Head-People and Change Advisory, KPMG in India, said the question was not about jobs, but the activities that come together to make a job. "In fact, research suggests that less than 5 per cent of the jobs in the US can be fully automated, and 45 per cent of the activities in 60 per cent of the jobs can get automated," he said.
March 9 was a Wednesday, but that did not stop a horde of HR executives making a beeline to Delhi's ITC Maurya, where the Business Today Knowledge Forum on Human Resources was being held, with panel discussions on two current and relevant subjects (a) The job crisis: Where will the jobs be if everything gets automated? (b) Talent acquisition: Changing environment, changing strategies.
The first topic started off with Siddhartha Singh, Senior Vice President and Head (BPO), NIIT Technologies, saying that till two years ago, people thought services would not get impacted by automation. "But two years ago, robotic process automation came in, which involves use of virtual robots, and 30-40 per cent of services jobs will get automated in the next three to four years."
Tapan Mitra, Chief Advisor, Apollo Tyres, said that new technologies and automation will certainly displace some jobs to some extent. "When we set up a new plant, we will obviously look at the best of machines. So, the manpower in our newer plant is one-third that of our older plant." At the same time, he pointed out that there are jobs done by unskilled labour, which continue despite the robotics and automation. Automating all processes also entails huge costs, he said.
Ajit Kumar, Head-HR, Philips India, said tremendous changes were happening in the healthcare industry, some of them in cardiovascular. Today, the number of heart surgeries has shot up exponentially compared to two decades ago, and much of this has to do with automation. But he has not seen major job loss happening because of automation.
Amit Kumar Srivastava, Head of Sales-India, SE Asia and Middle East, Bosch, said that the advancement of automation will bring to the fore new kinds of jobs. "For example, you will find the quality control department flooded with industrial scientists. If robots come, who is going to program and control the robots? So, you will have robot coordinators," he said, adding that there will also be products as a service, so a different kind of sales force will come in.
Nishchae Suri, Partner and Head-People and Change Advisory, KPMG in India, said the question was not about jobs, but the activities that come together to make a job. "In fact, research suggests that less than 5 per cent of the jobs in the US can be fully automated, and 45 per cent of the activities in 60 per cent of the jobs can get automated," he said.