The “great fear” of digitalisation displacing workers from jobs is exaggerated but real and countries should embrace change and seek to realise its full benefits, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the G20 Summit in Germany, July 8, 2017.
By Neo Chai Chin in Hamburg
Published: 10:25 PM, July 8, 2017, TODAY
HAMBURG — The “great fear” of digitalisation displacing workers from jobs is exaggerated but, nonetheless, real, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to world leaders at the G20 Summit in Germany on Saturday (July 8). And countries should embrace change and seek to realise its full benefits, he urged.
Mr Lee noted that businesses and workers – both blue-collar and professionals – are being affected by digitalisation and new technology, but long-term unemployment rates in various economies “have not gone up very much”.
“For every one person displaced, perhaps more than 100 people are worried and anxious. The fear exceeds the reality, but the fear is real,” he said at a G20 working session on digitalisation, women’s empowerment and employment, on the second and final day of the summit.
Free markets and private enterprise are needed to realise the benefits of digitalisation but governments have to play an active role, he said.
They should set the right frameworks and rules to germinate new ideas and ensure that established ways of doing things do not hold back progress, he said. For instance, banning services of the sharing economy would deprive people of their benefits. But companies cannot be unregulated “because there was often good reason to regulate their traditional equivalents”.
Governments need to find the right regulations to maintain standards, safety and allow new players to emerge, while giving incumbent players a fair chance to adapt and compete, said Mr Lee.
Governments should also train and prepare their people to have the skills and confidence to thrive in the new landscape. For example, Singapore has learnt from the British, French and South Koreans who have coding classes for their schoolchildren, he said. The Republic also has the SkillsFuture programme promoting lifelong learning for people already in the workforce.
The State must help workers who are at risk of being displaced to adapt to the changing job market, said Mr Lee, citing Singapore’s schemes to train displaced workers, matchmake them to new jobs and subsidise their wages during the transition. Some clean-room workers displaced from electronics plants are now working for medical device makers, and learning to do micro-stitching to make artificial heart valves.
Fourthly, governments have a role in supporting industries and businesses to transform, he said.
They can help companies enter new markets, and develop and adopt new technologies themselves.
“As leaders, we may differ in our…temperaments. But regardless of our different inclinations, it is our duty to hold out hope to our people, that we can by our efforts make this a better world,” said Mr Lee. “When it comes to digitalisation and jobs, we must not yield to our fears and anxieties. It is wiser for us to be optimistic and work hard to make our hopes come true.”
The G20 Summit, which has been held amid intense protests in Germany’s second-largest city, brings together 20 of the world’s leading economies including the United States, European Union, China, Indonesia, Brazil and Canada.
Singapore is not a G20 member, but is an invited guest and representing the Global Governance Group, an informal coalition among United Nations member states that speaks up for the interests of small and medium-sized countries.
Source: TODAY
By Neo Chai Chin in Hamburg
Published: 10:25 PM, July 8, 2017, TODAY
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