133 mn new jobs likely by 2022

The Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has estimated creation of over 133 million new jobs by 2022 in the shake-up between humans and machines. At the same time, 75 million jobs, however, may be displaced, it was revealed at the World Government Summit in Dubai recently.

The OECD called on governments and institutions around the world to collaborate far more closely around the Fourth Industrial Revolution to harness opportunities of technological change to end poverty, curb inequalities, confront discrimination and ensure that people are not left behind.

Addressing a plenary session, ‘The Future of the Economy in the Age of 4IR’, at the seventh World Government Summit (WGS 2019) in Dubai, OECD Secretary-General José Angel Gurría said it was vital that countries use digital technologies as a great equalizer.

 The OECD’s projections suggest that one billion people worldwide lack the necessary digital literacy and skills to participate in the digital economy, with Gurria pointing out that uneven broadband access means that less than half the world’s population uses the internet.

Globally, 200 million fewer women are online than men. Gurria said countries across the world are at different stages of the digital revolution and some people will be left behind. — PTI