The pandemic’s two major fallouts -— labour shortage and social distancing —- are now forcing companies to accelerate automation. As a result, how these companies look at labour is also undergoing a paradigm shift.
Engineering and construction firm Tata Projects is now using a tie machine at one of its Delhi project sites to bend metal bars. Before the pandemic, this was done manually by labourers. Company executives said the change was made because of the shortage of reinforcement fitters.
The lockdown and the fear of Covid-19 saw many labourers migrate back to their native places. This left companies with an acute