Road construction is an inconvenient fact of life in a modern world in which automobiles are central to how people get from place to place. Roadways need frequent repair and maintenance, causing traffic disruption and delays, not to mention a great deal of manpower.
While the labor needed to build, maintain and repair roads is costly to governments, labor is also placed at physical risk from working alongside busy streets and highways.
Shrinking Workforce Causes Resource Constraints
Compounding this challenge is the fact that human populations are aging and in some cases shrinking in many parts of the world. Fewer young workers mean more resource constraints with respect to labor, and that impacts everything from retail to childcare to, that’s right, road construction.
But as populations in parts of the world level off or shrink, technological advancements in automation and AI may offer a solution.
Technological Impacts
Recently, China repaved nearly 160 km of highways without any human workers. This technological breakthrough is not only a marvel of engineering and automation, but it also suggests a future in which humans are virtually absent from this kind of work.
While that is likely unwelcome news to workers who make their livelihoods in road work and other similar forms of labor, it suggests a much-needed reprieve for labor-strapped nations struggling to find a way to keep their countries running while experiencing declining populations.
The integration of automation and AI in road construction, as demonstrated by China’s recent project, signals a transformative shift for labor-intensive industries. While the move toward fully automated roadwork may disrupt traditional employment in the sector, it offers a viable solution to address labor shortages in aging and shrinking populations.
New Roles for Workers
As technology advances, countries worldwide may increasingly adopt such innovations to maintain essential infrastructure efficiently and safely, paving the way for a future where road construction is less dependent on human labor for certain types of tasks.
For others, human labor will still be required. That means a shift in how workers are sources, trained, and developed. HR leaders need to be thinking about the skills that will no longer be needed—and the new skills that are likely to be in demand—in the future.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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