Automation could affect women more than men, learn what RH can do to further support women.
Female workers could be the most affected by automation: it’s expected worldwide that by 2020 between 40 and 160 million women will have to move towards more qualified jobs, and millions more could be displaced from their current jobs.
1. Technological training
- Due to the nature of the jobs that men and women perform, women face greater challenges with automation.
- While not all women will need to become programmers or the like, HR should help women to feel more comfortable and to be proficient in using technology, even women with jobs which are not at risk of being automated.
2. Support women’s professional career
- Employment will grow in the sectors and industries that demand higher levels of education: HR must begin a change of mentality by endorsing and committing to women’s learning by offering them training to acquire new professional and personal skills.
3. Support women who work in non-automated sectors
- In order to support women to face the automation process HR should promote their professional development in sectors or industries which are based on soft skills.
- Women who have social-emotional abilities, interpersonal or cognitive skills, and/or the ability to solve problems and think critically will have a better chance of not losing their jobs to automation, since empathy, compassion and persuasion are elements of emotional intelligence which can’t be replicated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
4. Support women who have decided to change their job
- When facing a job transition, women could find a more productive and better paid job but could also face a growing wage gap or be left out of the labor market.
5. Inclusive benefits
- HR must work to guarantee the physical and emotional safety of female workers, as well as implementing inclusive policies aimed at helping them with child care, providing safe transport, granting access to technology, etc.
