Embrace technology or pay the price, says BCA boss Jennifer Westacott

Advances in technology will not cost jobs or hurt the Australian economy, says Jennifer Westacott.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott has issued a rallying call to business and workers to embrace far-reaching technological change in order to save jobs and secure a sizeable nationwide economic dividend.

In a speech in Canberra today, Ms Westacott will hit back at fearmongering about job losses in the wake of rapid improvements in digital technology and automation, pointing to research suggesting the technology boom “could add up to $250 billion to the Australian economy by 2025”.

“When I hear people saying they want to slow down this rate of change, erect barriers to transition, I shake my head,” she said.

Pointing to new research from economic consultancy AlphaBeta, Ms Westacott said the rate of job losses due to automation was no higher than in previous years.

“There is little evidence to suggest technological change is speeding up the rate of job loss in our community,” she said.

“Our analysis shows the percentage of workers forced to change jobs has almost halved over the last two decades.”

The AlphaBeta analysis found, however, that low-skilled workers — especially men over 55 in construction and manufacturing, and those in financial services — were at greatest risk of being in obsolete occupations. “We need to pay particular attention to these groups of people,” Ms Westacott said.

The study suggested jobs with the most amount of change, such as architects, secretaries, and retail managers, were least likely to become obsolete.

“Jobs with a lower rate of task change are at greater risk,” Ms Westacott said, adding: “The more resistance there is to task change and adaption, the more likely it is that jobs will be at risk.”