Integration of AI in IT sector will create more jobs: Labour Secy

"The labour ministry budget for this fiscal year is at a historic high. Around Rs 20,000 crore belong to these three schemes. So, this should give you a clue," she said

Labour Secretary Sumita Dawra said here on Friday that there are traditional sectors like services, trade, finance, construction, etc. that are drivers of job growth in India while the startup ecosystem, and global capability centres (GCCs) have emerged as new engines of growth. She was speaking at a panel discussion titled “Future of Jobs” during Business Standard annual event “Manthan”.

 

“So, when we look at AI and digital interventions, they are also expected to create jobs in the economy. The integration of AI in the information technology (IT) sector will create more jobs. Tourism and health are additional sectors that are going to drive job growth. Not to mention international mobility,” she added.

 

Prior to Dawra, Radhicka Kapoor, senior employment specialist at the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) Decent Work Technical Support Team (DWT) for South Asia, emphasised that the augmenting effect of technology is going to be far more significant for the future of work than the automated effect.

 

“Basically every occupation entails certain tasks. So, when new technologies like AI, GenAI come in, there would be certain tasks within those occupations that will be automated, not the entire occupation. Therefore, the tasks that will be redundant will then enhance the overall productivity of the occupation. That is the augmenting effect,” she said.

 

Responding to a query on how she views the future of jobs shaping up amid the current technological changes, she brought to notice a global study that looked at the impact of GenAI, and its findings of how these technological changes would have an augmenting effect.

 

Echoing similar views, Hiranmaya Pandya, president of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), said that whenever new technologies come in, new job roles are created inadvertently.

 

“For example, during the Covid pandemic, we saw a transformation in the nature of work. The rise of gig and platform work is such an example. Now it is a regular part of our lives. Jobs created only in the government sector are not the only kind of jobs. The private sector, which is growing at a rapid pace, is also generating a lot of jobs,” he added.

 

Besides, the three panellists also agreed on the importance of upskilling the youth in the changing scenario, where technological changes are making a significant impact. Also, since a large working population is engaged in the informal sector, it is imperative to skill them and formalise them.

 

Responding to a query on the impending launch of the three employment linked incentive (ELI) schemes that were announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget last year, Dawra said extensive stakeholder consultations have happened, indicating that the schemes will be launched soon.

 

“The labour ministry budget for this financial year is at a historic high. Around Rs 20,000 crore belongs to these three schemes. So, this should give you a clue,” she said.

 

“It is a very significant scheme and also has a budget higher than even the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme. So, efforts were made to ensure that the scheme achieved what it was aimed for,” she added.

 

Responding to a query on the recent debate around work hours, Kapoor said personally she is very cautious about defining what “working hours” mean in a country like India where a large number of people are self-employed.

 

Meanwhile, Pandya, in response to a query on the future of labour union movement, said that BMS does not give much weightage to strikes as a measure as they believe in bipartite negotiations between the management and the unions as the first resort.

 

“In this changing world, strikes are losing their relevance. People are not encouraging such strikes at all. Though this does not mean we should give up our issues. Instead, we should rely on data and present to the management all the issues that we have. In the changing global world, multinational companies are working across the globe. We should gather all this data and present the same to the management. This would save a lot of man-hours, which will be in the interest of both the workers and the management. Only as the last resort, we should use strikes,” he added.