Ever since the adoption of IoT devices has increased in managing workforce and connectivity, as many as 94,000 jobs are expected to freeze in India by 2021, says Zinnov in a report.
“Internet-of-things technology will impact 120,000 jobs in the country by 2021. 94,000 jobs will be eliminated, and 25,000 jobs will be created in the five-year period,” Hardik Tiwari, engagement lead at Zinnov, according to ET report.
Since everything falls under the graph of upward and downward direction, thus the increasing adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) will impact jobs by 2021, says the report.
This number is over and above the hundreds of thousands of jobs that experts say will be lost due to automation in IT and will predominantly impact unskilled and blue-collar workers.
Internet of Things basically means embedding everyday objects with sensors and chips to monitor and control them remotely using internet, from smart wearable to smart cars.
IoT reduces the requirement of manpower to operate devices manually. It impacts people in jobs such as office administration, supervisory roles, installation and maintenance and support staff, etc.
Companies across sectors such as auto, telecom and healthcare are increasingly adopting IoT to increase efficiency and reduce cost. Indian corporates currently spend USD 1.6 billion on IoT technology, which is expected to go up to USD 3.8 billion by 2021, says the report.
Newer technologies are expected to constrict job supply in some areas. In July, research firm HfS predicted that India’s IT services industry would lose 6.4 lakh “low-skilled” jobs to automation in the next five years. The HfS report stated that though “low-skilled” jobs will fall by 30 per cent, “medium-skilled” jobs will increase by 8 per cent and high-skilled jobs will rise by 56 per cent.
Globally, the spend on Internet of Things currently by corporates is estimated at USD 120 billion and is expected to grow to USd 253 billion by 2021, says the report.
It is, however, expected that IoT will facilitate creation of new jobs like product managers, data scientists, robot coordinators, industrial programmers and network engineers. In India, IoT is expected to create as many as 25,000 such new jobs, adds the report.