Railway, aviation jobs threatened by technology

Press, 3 September 1986, Page 41

Railway, aviation jobs threatened by technology

NZPA-Reuter Geneva Automated equipment is increasingly replacing train and plane crew members, and new technology is likely to destroy more jobs in these industries than it creates, says the International Labour Organisation (1.L.0.) A study by the United Nations agency cited as an example an unmanned metro railway that has been transporting com-' muters in Lille, France, for two years. Toulouse has decided to build a similar system. Tasks such as welding rails, laying sleepers and building stone beds for tracks, which used to employ 50 manual workers, could now be done by a machine run by two persons, the study said. In aviation, automated communications equipment and sophisticated navigation systems had enabled airlines to save substantially on flightdeck crew costs by phasing out radio technicians and flight navigators. “The advent of artificial intelligence will probably mean that computers will encroach upon hitherto untouched areas such as decision-making in air traffic control and train driving,” the study said.

But the 1.L.0. noted in a commentary that while new technology might destroy jobs in certain industries and sectors, it believed that mediumterm and long-term prospects of new jobs were being created elsewhere. A separate 1.L.0. study

said the use of robots in industry generally was likely to grow up to fivefold over the next 10 years. Management and labour should get together in good time to ease the impact of this development on jobs, wages and social conditions, it said.