Category: Tech Lite

Displacement of around 87 million jobs is expected in the coming years due to shift from human labour to machines, a report by World Economic Forum (WEF) has said.

The ‘Future of Jobs Report 2020’, however, noted that 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines, and algorithms.

“Although the number of jobs destroyed will be surpassed by the number of ‘jobs of tomorrow’ created, in contrast to previous years, job creation is slowing while job destruction accelerates,” it said.

Employers expect that by 2025, increasingly redundant roles will decline from 15.4 per cent of the workforce to 9 per cent, and that emerging professions will grow from 7.8 per cent to 13.5 per cent of the total employee base of company respondents, the report said.

“Based on these figures, we estimate that by 2025, 85 million jobs may be displaced by a shift in the division of labour between humans and machines, while 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines, and algorithms,” it added.

It observed that automation, in tandem with the COVID-19 recession, is creating a ‘double-disruption’ scenario for workers. In addition to the current disruption from the pandemic-induced lockdowns and economic contraction, technological adoption by companies will transform tasks, jobs and skills by 2025.

Around 43 per cent per cent of businesses surveyed indicate that they are set to reduce their workforce due to technology integration, 41 per cent plan to expand their use of contractors for task-specialised work, and 34 per cent plan to expand their workforce due to technology integration.

“By 2025, the time spent on current tasks at work by humans and machines will be equal. A significant share of companies also expect to make changes to locations, their value chains, and the size of their workforce due to factors beyond technology in the next five years,” it said.

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The total capital expenditure required for 5G rollout is estimated to be Rs 187 billion (Rs 18,700 crore) for Delhi and Mumbai, as per a telecom report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

The report based on the TRAI’s latest reserve price, the capex requirement for obtaining 100MHz mid band spectrum in Mumbai would be Rs 84 billion, which could increase if the bidding price is higher than the base price.

“Assuming 9k sites would be required for coverage with cost at INR 2 million per site, the total capex requirement for the sites would be INR 18b, taking the total capex to around INR 100b,” the report said.

“Similarly, capex requirement for 5G rollout in Delhi would be INR 87b – assuming 100MHz mid band spectrum at base price (INR 69b).”

In terms of mid or low band spectrum, the overall capex requirement for pan-India coverage would stand at Rs 1.3 to Rs 2.3 trillion.

“The Indian telecom industry is seeing capex peak out (particularly for Bharti and RJio) and increased free cash flows (FCF). However, risks have started emerging due to the increased capex toward 5G technology upgrade and the upcoming spectrum renewal,” it said.

As per the report, investments in three key large components for a 5G network – ‘Spectrum, Sites and Fiber’ on mid/low band spectrum with pan-India coverage – would stand at “INR 2.3t/INR 1.3t, which should reduce to INR 1.3t/INR 788b for coverage of only Metros and ‘A’ circles. With reduced coverage and INR 1.5m cost/site, this could reduce to INR 1.6t (mid-band) for pan-India coverage”.

“Even assuming rollout starting from FY23E, a staggered deployment over the next 4-5 years (in line with 4G investment trend) could insulate the impact to a large extent,” the report added.

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Zozter app comes as digital solution which enables one to avoid depending on hundreds of paper business cards. The concept has been developed by a long-standing employee of Lord Rami Ranger’s company, Sun Mark Ltd, Mr Amritpal Sachdeva, fondly known as Lucky.

Lord Ranger CBE, at the launch event, said to local media, “I am very proud to see how Lucky has developed his business acumen and customer service skills whilst at Sun Mark and I am very impressed with his Zozter App. The pioneering Zozter App developed by Lucky provides solutions in today’s digital world. It is reducing the need to use paper and to carry business cards to help the environment.

It is challenging to manage so many business cards which one gets daily when going about the businesses. It is child’s play to store the information, all the information one needs to run an effective business. The app helps you network with like-minded professionals and also helps you find suitable employment and business opportunities.”

Lucky had started his working life at Sun Mark Ltd and progressed up the ranks to become the Distribution Manager, having worked there for over 18 years.

Lucky said, “I owe all my success to Lord Ranger who has been my guiding light and mentor and who has made me what I am today.  I am proud to have created the start-up Zozter; it is the world’s first online social card sharing application based on the idea of enhancing the sharing of business cards and services to a global community, it is the next level in marketing and business networking”.

Zozter’s unique features allow it to be used on all platforms. It is a digital business card holder for your old business cards. The mission is to create a global community to help facilitate business networking and to help both employers and employees connect in a seamless way. Further information on the innovation can be gathered from www.zozter.com

Samsung took the top spot in the global smartphone market in August driven by sales growth in India as the market recovered from a nationwide lockdown, a Counterpoint Research report said on Friday.

The South Korean tech giant also recaptured the top spot in India in July-August period, according to Counterpoint’s latest Monthly Market Pulse report.

Samsung has now reached its highest market share in India since 2018 by adopting an aggressive online channel strategy to benefit from opportunities arising due to anti-China sentiments in the country, said the report.

“Geopolitical policies and political affairs among nations are affecting the smartphone market in many ways. There will be heightened marketing activity to seize opportunities in these regions and segments,” Research Analyst Minsoo Kang said in a statement.

“As a result, the concentration of top players in the smartphone market will be much stronger. We see players like Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi and OPPO benefiting the most.”

However, even as Samsung snatched the top spot in the India market dominated by Xiaomi for long, the Chinese smartphone maker is showing a significant increase in its market share globally, especially in markets where Huawei used to have strong presence, such as Central Eastern Europe.

In the global smartphone market, Samsung captured 22 per cent share.

In April, Samsung lost the top spot to Huawei due to sharp declines in its major markets of India and Europe.

After achieving its highest global share of 21 per cent in April, Huawei became No. 2 in the market with 16 per cent share in August.

Huawei’s market share is expected to fall further in the future due to US trade sanctions, said the report.

Apple has managed to maintain its share well in the off-season period. With the October 13 launch of the new iPhone 12 series, Apple’s sales are expected to rise but only in November as the launch is later than previous years.

The long lifecycle of iPhone 11 series and successful new iPhone SE will help Apple bridge the gap till then, Counterpoint said.

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