The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has stated in a new report that industrial automation is more likely to create new jobs in Mexico than increase unemployment.
Focused on new technologies that threaten jobs across the world, the study states that manufacturers who adopt more robotics to increase efficiency tend to expand their operations, which in turn creates more jobs.
“The increased use of robots in Mexico has also been associated with expanding employment,” the report noted.
Mexico accounts for the bulk of Latin America’s industrial robotics deployment, having registered a large increase in the stock of industrial robots over the past few years.
One of Mexico’s crown jewels, the automotive sector, employs a wide range of robotics automation. Automotive accounts for 20% of Mexico’s manufacturing jobs, along with the electronics industry, which accounts for 12%, both of which are heavy adopters of the tech.
“For some countries, employment could remain stable or even increase if the additional supply that results from automation based productivity growth is absorbed through increased demand from exports,” said the report with reference to Mexico and Germany.
According to the report, robot density in the automotive sector increased from 121 robots per 10,000 employees in 2011 to 513 robots per 10,000 employees in 2015. The output growth of the sector also vastly exceeds that of the manufacturing sector as a whole.
Even so, it is almost certain that automation will lead to a decline in wages. The UN agency says it found a slight decline in wages in Mexico’s highly automated sectors.
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