Within the framework of the V Forum of Local Economic Development,  Roberto Di Meglio  of the International Labor Organization developed several aspects that will be presented at the event that arrives in Córdoba with  ADEC  from May 26 to June 1.

Roberto Di Meglio  is a senior specialist at the International Labor Organization in Geneva. He works mainly in Local Development and Social and Solidarity Economy, and will be in charge of developing thematic line 3: “The future of work and the work of the future from a territorial perspective in the context of crisis generated by covid-19.”

Di Meglio tells us about the future of jobs, the importance of automation and new organizational models.

– What would the ideal balance be like between new organizational models and new technologies?

Roberto Di Meglio:  The massive introduction of new digital technologies and their possible impacts on the workplace are difficult to foresee. The destruction of employment as a result of automation is a topic on which research estimates differ greatly; However, they all agree that  many jobs will soon be obsolete .

Let’s think, for example, about the speed with which assisted driving technology advances. As we know, there are a large number of people who work as drivers (More than 3.5 million people work as truck drivers in the United States), and at some point in the not too distant future they will have to look for another job.

We can also observe how technologies related, for example, to the topic of language interpretation advance very quickly. There is always more available: on the internet, free translators who do a very good job. For the moment, human input is still needed, but everything suggests that the day is not far off when we will no longer need interpreters.

One issue on which researchers agree is that  the training of workers will have to be greatly promoted so that they can move horizontally in the labor market .

When we talk about  new organizational models … What do we mean? If we think about the organizational models such as companies that belong to the social and solidarity economy, where the prevailing elements are attention to the person, the social and economic objective and participatory and democratic governance, the ideal balance will be -if applicable in case- what is convenient for the company taking into account all the aforementioned factors.

If we think about the organizational models of traditional private sector companies, in which profit maximization is the priority objective that regulates all decisions made in the company, the ideal balance will be determined by the  economic convenience  between having a  person as a worker  or replace it with a robot or technology that fulfills the required functions . 

Due to the massive diffusion of digital technologies that  automate production processes , their  ease of location  and their  increasingly accessible cost , an increasing trend in  automation processes in the north and south of the world is foreseeable .  The pandemic generated by Covid-19 could be a factor that causes an acceleration of this phenomenon .

– Regarding recovery… should the economic, social or political be prioritized?

Roberto Di Meglio:  I think it is important to aim for a recovery that is not returning to everything as it was before.  Crises must be used to learn and seek to improve what has not been done well before .

The different dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development are interconnected, so it is difficult to prioritize. However, I believe that the most important thing should be people’s health and staying in the social field, education plays a relevant role.

Next, I think, comes politics:  we must take care of democracy by promoting policies that confront growing inequality , exacerbated by the pandemic, in order not to affect social stability, crucial for our fragile democracies.

Finally, obviously, there is the economic dimension that must be taken care of, especially with respect to work, the source of material and existential life for the majority of people.

The approach to local economic development implies an integrated vision, in which the social, economic and political dimensions are integrated, giving meaning to the different visions, resources and vocations. Thus, it is positioned as the most suitable to provide answers to the complex challenges that lie ahead.

We invite you to discuss this and other topics at the V World Forum of the virtual edition that will take place from May 26 to June 1, 2021, with live streaming from Córdoba, Argentina.