MANILA – Close to a million business process outsourcing (BPO) or call center employees to lose jobs in five years due to automation, an Asian Institute of Management (AIM) professor said.
AIM’s professor Christopher P. Monterola, PhD, said that some 800,000 call center workers would be rendered jobless in five years’ time due artificial intelligence (AI) automating the workplace.
Monterola indicated that AI machines could handle calls more easily and efficiently than people.
According to him, the number of those working in BPO has been declining, contrary to earlier projections of a 20 percent increase every year.
He suggested that BPO workers must learn other skills to get other jobs, and shift to other competencies.
While the “AI invasion” of the workplace is a real threat, Moterola believes that the situation may also offer opportunities as more and more types of jobs would be created in the future. (GMA News)
