Will Internet-of-Things (IoT) Kill More Than 70,000 Jobs in India till 2021 ?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept of interconnecting any physical devices using electronics components, software, actuators, sensors and network connectivity so that the devices can collect and share data.

The concept which was named in 1999 has been under development for decades to enable a myriad of applications starting from the micro to macro, and from trivial to the critical.

First, the concept was implemented at a Coke machine at Carnegie Melon University, Pennsylvania, in the early 1980s. The machine was connected to the internet to verify the status of the machine and to know if or not there would be a cold drink awaiting, and when to trip down the machine.

Any object can be transformed into a thing in the IoT, for example, a domestic animal with a biochip transponder, a human being with a heart monitor implant, an automobile with built-in sensors. Any natural or man-made thing which can be assigned an IP address and provided with the potential to transfer data over a network can be a part of IoT.

As entrepreneurs are mulling over implementing IoT, considering that it will have a strong impact on their enterprises, there is a fear among people it will lead to automation of jobs.

It is true that the IoT would replace a certain number of jobs but at the same time, it will generate a large number of other jobs.

Impact of the IoT on jobs in India

Recently, a consulting firm Zinnov has said in a reported that around 94, 000 jobs could be lost in the Asian country over the next five years as a result of growing adoption of the Internet of Things.

In the IOT, sensors and actuators are embedded in commonly used objects to control and monitor them from remote areas using the internet. Thus, it eliminates the requirement of manpower to run the objects manually.

The IOT would impact the job of office administrations, support staffs, supervisors and installation and maintenance work.

Automobile companies, telecom companies, and healthcare sectors are increasingly accepting IoT to enhance efficiency and for cost curtail.

At present, the corporate sector in India is spending $1.6 billion on IoT technology, the report said adding that the figure is likely to go up to $3.8 billion by 2021.

The report, however, says that the adoption of IoT will enable the creation of new job opportunities such as data scientists, robot coordinators, product managers, solution architect and network engineers. The IoT is likely to generate as many as 25, 000 new job opportunities in India, report added.

Internet-of-things (IoT) is the term used to describe the addition of sensors and chips to machinery which allows them to the monitored and controlled over the internet.
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