Technological intervention in the workplaces through the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) would severely impact the job opportunities of business graduates, especially those specialising in human resource management. Automation would replace manual labour and, in many cases, replace the employee itself where robotics will be employed for efficiency and cost-effectiveness, industry experts warned at a National Human Resource Conclave held at the Sri Sri University here.
President of Sri Sri University Rajita Kulkarni set the tone of the conclave. Prof P Srinivas Subbarao, the Dean of Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), welcomed the guests and introduced the theme to the audience. He wanted to know if the Industry 4.0 is going to affect the recruiting and retaining the right talent, whether, through IoT, AI and ML people will be disconnected with each other at a personal level for training, group work and projects, especially when the robotization threatening to dehumanize workplaces and whether the industry is ready to meet the ongoing and future challenges in this sector.
Nabaghan Pany, Vice President of HR, Admin and Corporate Affairs at the Nellore International Airport argued in favor of the value of human beings at the workplace.
Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Group Head, HR, BPO Convergence, shared how HR professionals would face difficult times if they didn't change the way they functioned.
Rajashree Upadhyay, DGM HR, Amri Hospitals, spoke in favor of people. Citing that technology as a force of good which will help in virtual reality, help connect large databases of efficient and experienced workforce through social media like Linked In etc, she, nevertheless, highlighted how human skills would be required, though there would be a need to sharpen the skills to handle emerging technology.
Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sri University Prof Ajay Kumar Singh rejected the very notion of technology being powerful to take away jobs.