Tag: Fourth Industrial Revolution

The latest GDP numbers show that the South African economy declined by 3.2% for the first quarter of 2019. This comes after President Ramaphosa announced a R50 billion stimulus package in September 2018. Since that stimulus followed on a decade of stimulus spending instituted since the 2008 global economic crisis, we must now ask whether Minister Pravin Gordhan’s decision to choose stimulus over austerity was the right one.

It’s that time of year again where more than 3,000 of the world’s top leaders including heads of state, central bankers and representatives from many of the world’s top companies converge on the little town of Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF).

Employers must ensure they follow the right labour relations steps amidst a tough environment. Having recently slipped into a technical recession, the South African economy continues to experience dangerously low levels of economic growth, which does not bode well for national employment figures. Making matters worse is the technologically driven fourth industrial revolution which continues to threaten redundancy on a variety of jobs.

Is South Africa headed down a road of jobless growth where a capital-intensive economy is incompatible with a labour-intensive need? According to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report reviewed in Forbes Magazine, 11 August 2017, there are about 71 million unemployed 15 to 24-year-olds around the globe, many of them facing long-term unemployment. This is close to a historic peak of 13%.

Sixty-five percent of jobs that will exist in future, have not been created. Technology is changing faster than most can keep up with. Is it man against machine, or man working hand in hand with machines? With the hype around the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, there is concern as to the impact on jobs and future careers.

Industries are being disrupted one by one and as a result, business environments are constantly changing.  Those that are embracing change and looking for ways to innovate faster and better are succeeding. Those that don’t, are struggling. And, intrapreneurship is playing a critical role here.

Navin Sing | Managing Director: Risk Advisory Africa | Deloitte | navising@deloitte.co.za | www.deloitte.com | In today’s hyper-connected world - dominated by mobile devices, social...

Further Education and Training (FET) should strive to achieve three goals: making graduates employable; creating a diverse workforce; and meeting the needs of the...

The 4th industrial revolution ushers in the era of data & analytics (D&A), the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, cognitive computing and artificial...

Bruce von Maltitz | Co-founder and Joint CEO | 1Stream | bruce@1Stream.co.za | www.1stream.co.za | Where do humans fit in a world of digital personal assistants? The fourth...