Rwandans, have been urged to embrace technology as it will increase jobs in one way or another. This was said by Wellington Chibebe, the director of International Labour Organisation regional office, during a National Employment Forum held in Kigali on Tuesday. “Many people are scared that with the introduction of technology, a lot of jobs will be lost. This is true but it doesn’t mean that people will become jobless because of this. “There are jobs that will be created. Many people can be employed in the logistics department where robots cannot work. We just have to look ahead and prepare for the future because this is the way to go and we can’t avoid it,” Chibebe stated According to the Minister for Public Service and Labour, Fanfan Rwanyindo, technological innovations are crucial for the economy of the country as a whole. She cited the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) employment outlook for 2019 on the future of work, which indicated that 14% of jobs would be automated and 32% would significantly change by the end of the year. She also noted that orders for industrial robots have tripled in the last decade and the figures are expected to keep rising. Speaking during a panel discussion that had experts from private and public sectors and civil society, among others, Chibebe gave an example of when he was starting out as an apprentice diesel fitter on steam locomotives. He said that when diesel locomotives were introduced, efforts were made to re-skill workers and when diesel locomotives were being phased out, workers were again re-skilled to work on electric locomotives. He said that no body lost their job as they were equipped with skills for the next level and it greatly helped them cope with new ideas and technologies. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
