More Jamaicans fear losing their jobs to technology

By Javaughn Keyes

It appears more Jamaicans are beginning to become more concerned about the possibility of technology replacing their jobs.

The latest Consumer Confidence Survey showed there was a combined 7 per cent increase in Jamaicans who felt their jobs were “probably likely to be replaced” and “strongly likely to be replaced”. 

“At the moment, there’s not a great degree of concern that technology will replace jobs, not a great degree of concern. You can see that 8 per cent feel that their job is strongly likely to be replaced by technology, 13 per cent probably. So we’re saying one in every five believe that their job is under threat from technology, but this is not a large number, but still something that needs to be noted going forward, because there is a sense of urgency in terms of moving towards a greater appreciation of AI (artificial intelligence) and implications for job security,” said Executive Chairman of Market Research Services, Don Anderson, who presented the findings. 

Forty per cent of the employed respondents were of the view that it was “strongly unlikely” that their jobs would be replaced by technology.

This represents a 10 per cent decline, suggesting reduced confidence for some Jamaicans in job security due to technological advancement, including artificial intellingence.