Transformations in Technology, Transformations in Work

224 Pages·2016·8.47 MB·English

Transformations in Technology,
Transformations in Work
October 2016
Transformations in Technology,
Transformations in Work
October 2016
Published in October 2016 by JustJobs Network Inc.
Acknowledgments:
The JustJobs Network would like to thank all its network members and guest authors
for their contributions to this volume.

We are grateful to German Federal Minister of Labour and Social Afairs, H.E.
Andrea Nahles, whose interest in technological change and its impact on labor
markets inspired this volume’s theme. JJN Executive Director Sabina Dewan
and Deputy Director Gregory Randolph helped conceptualize the volume and
led the editorial process, providing valuable intellectual inputs throughout.

A special thank you to JJN Fellow Knut Panknin for his contributions in
reviewing and launching the volume. Atisha Kumar provided editorial support.
Ruchika Joshi and Prachi Agarwal were instrumental in the fnal production.

JJN expresses its gratitude to the International Development Research Centre of Canada,
which supported the research for Chapter 2, and in particular Edgard Rodriguez for his
ongoing collaboration. Finally, JJN acknowledges the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Afairs for its continued support of the organization’s work; this support makes it
possible for us to undertake eforts like this volume to help inform the global debate
on important subjects, such as the impact of technology on the world of work.
Previous signature volumes:
Global Wage Debates: Overcoming the Youth Employment
Politics or Economics? Crisis: Strategies from Around the World
(2015) (2014)
ConTenTs
Foreword
Introduction 01
Chapter 01
On-Demand transport workers in Indonesia 15
Toward understanding the sharing economy in emerging markets
Victoria Fanggidae, Muto P. Sagala & Dwi Rahayu Ningrum, Perkumpulan Prakarsa
Chapter 02
Are online work platforms creating a frictionless global labor market? 47
Analyzing data from the largest Spanish-speaking freelance portal
Hernan Galperin & Catrihel Greppi, Guest Contributors
Chapter 03
Digitalization of industrial jobs in Germany 73
Prospects for human-oriented work design
Hartmut Hirsch-Kreinsen, Technical University of Dortmund
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Chapter 04
Harnessing digital platforms to mobilize workers in China 87
The experience of workers’ rights centers
Eric Gottwald & Kevin Lin, International Labor Rights Forum
ConTenTs
Chapter 05
Deploying technology to grow micro-enterprises in India 103
Evidence from urban Gujarat
Keren Nazareth, Saath Charitable Trust
Vishakha Pandit, Saath Savings and Credit Cooperative Ltd.
Chapter 06
Technology, skills and wages in South Africa 125
Tackling labor market polarization
Aalia Cassim, Guest Contributor
Chapter 07
The mixed efects of agricultural technology in Indonesia 141
Balancing productivity, employment and equity
Viesda Pithaloka, AKATIGA Center for Social Analysis
Chpater 08
Improving agricultural livelihoods through e-vouchers in Zambia 161
Leveraging technology to streamline and strengthen farm subsidies
Felix Mwenge & Gibson Masumbu, The Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research
Chapter 09
Assessing the social dimension of the digital economy 181
Policy frameworks for quality jobs of tomorrow
Sharan Burrow, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Anna Byhovskaya, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC)
Spotlight: An IMF agenda for balancing efciency and equity 207
Prakash Loungani, Chief, Development Macroeconomics, IMF Research Department
Advisory Group Member, JustJobs Network & Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center
ForeWord
Few would dispute that technology has, throughout history, altered the nature of
work. But today, the pace of technological change and innovation is unprecedented.
This raises the question of whether workers, organizations, governments and
economies as a whole can adjust quickly enough.
In Germany, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Afairs has in mid-2014 created
a framework for both a public and a high-level expert dialogue on the future of
work – “Work 4.0” as we call it. As part of the process we scrutinize the drivers that
are changing the world of work, analyze the areas in which policy responses may
be required and develop concrete proposals for policy. Topics we discuss are, for example, working time
and teleworking regulations, the efects of digitalization on employment and skill requirements as well as
the development of the on-demand economy. Our dialogue process will come to a preliminary close with a
fnal conference at the end of November, where we will present and discuss the conclusions we have drawn
from the dialogue process.
Given the magnitude of the digital transformation, the JustJobs Network aptly selected technology and
jobs as the theme of its 2016 annual fagship publication. This volume documents how diferent countries,
at varying levels of development, are grappling with the advent of new technology and its efects on their
labor markets. This timely project coincides with heated debates on the displacement of workers due to
automation, the on-demand economy and innovation in many countries.
In the face of the current changes, we cannot preserve the world of work as it is, and in some respects it
would be even counterproductive if we tried. But I am sure that if we manage transformation processes well
and adapt our institutions accordingly, we can minimize the negative impacts and harness the potential for
new and better jobs that the digital transformation ofers.
Andrea Nahles
Minister of Labor and Social Afairs
Federal Republic of Germany
NI NOITCUDORT
Sabina Dewan and Gregory Randolph, JustJobs Network
JustJobs Network www.justjobsnetwork.org 1
2 Transformations in Technology, Transformations in Work
NI NOITCUDORT
Sabina Dewan and Gregory Randolph,uJ stoJ bseN twork
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JustJobs Network www.justjobsnetwork.org 3
Based on case studies from around the world, technological transformation and jobs. Five key
this volume by the JustJobs Network sketches themes emerge from this research.
the complex and evolving relationship between
iF ev key themes of this ov lmu e
1. The discourse on technology highlights the Chapter 7, for instance, examines an Indonesian
trade-of between efciency and equity, and government program to boost agricultural
policy frameworks must strike a balance between productivity through technology. It fnds that
the two. the impact of a combine harvester in Indonesian
agriculture hinges on where
On the one hand,
and how the machine is
technology enhances The relationship between
introduced. In parts of the
productivity and efciency,
technology, productivity,
country where the vast
but on the other, it can
and the quantity and quality majority of workers rely on
lead to labor substitution
of jobs is dynamic and agriculture, the technology
and increasing inequality.
destroyed harvest time
This is at the heart of global context-specifc.
work for people without
debates on technology’s
impact on jobs. While some argue that 21st century other viable employment
options. It also upended a traditional model of
technologies are rendering workers redundant far
wealth redistribution through labor-intensive
faster than they are generating new employment,
harvesting, exacerbating local inequalities.
others contend that the aggregate gains in
productivity brought on by technology will
The nature of technological change today also
enable more job creation in the long run. As this
tends to produce skill and wage polarization
volume demonstrates, the relationship between
in labor markets. On one end of the spectrum,
technology, productivity, and the quantity and
digitalized companies and sectors demand
quality of jobs is dynamic and context-specifc.
highly-skilled workers to operate their advanced
technologies and perform high-value-added
4 Transformations in Technology, Transformations in Work