Abstract

Machines by their design are aimed at increasing and improving the efficiency of productive activities where they are applied. The result is that they are given preference against manually operated productive activity. This paper explored the gradual and yet progressive introduction of machines, namely, robots into the production processes of industries following the industrial revolution of the 20th century and the attendant ‘threat’ to the percentage of human capacity engaged in the production processes of industries in most of the industrialized nations. It is observed that the automation of industrial operations using robots will result in precision production and maximum throughput. However, the more robots are engaged by industrialized nations, the more human capacity is rendered redundant and consequently people are thrown out of job. It is therefore proposed that industrialized nations and other emerging economies embracing modern automation using robots should set in motion a long-term mechanism of re-engineering of the workforce through reforms in their educational curricula to prepare the displaced workforce for alternative employment and subsequently redirect the workforce of the future towards survival in an industrial revolution where robots will take over most of, if not all, the technical and operational functions of today’s industries.

Key words: Robots, automation, workforce, replacing people, reducing labour costs.