Seminar on Implication of New Technologies on the Future of Work

The seminar serves as a platform for Chinese academia and the ILO to discuss the impact of new technology and industry 4.0 on jobs.

The ILO and Renmin University organizes a joint seminar to stimulate discussion among academia, companies and national stakeholders on the impact of new technology on jobs. This event is a part of the national conversations between the government, social partners and key stakeholders to explore the prospect of the Future of Work.

What will be the jobs of the future like? With the industry 4.0 high on the agenda of many countries and robots replacing workers on many production lines, people may question what implications the Future of Work will have on each and everyone of us.

The Future of Work is currently an area of focus under the ILO's Centenary Initiatives. The ILO has launched four Centanary Conversations on the topics of: Work and society, Decent jobs for all, the organization of work and production, and the governance of work. In 2016, member states of the ILO will organize national dialogues on the topic of the Future of Work around these four topics. To prepare for the national dialogue on the Future of Work that the ILO, MOHRSS and the social partners will jointly organize in September 2016, the seminar discussed the impact of new technology on jobs, which is an important facet to be examined in the discussion on the Future of Work. Participants at the seminar examined and compared the impact of new technology in China and ASEAN countries and looked into the employment trend in new sectors such as the courier logistics/delivery sector. Around 25 participants from Renmin University, China Enterprise Association, the labour study Institutes of MOHRSS, Alibaba Group, and other academia engaged in the dialogue.