Singapore’s robot workforce plugs labour gaps

Autonomous era: A four-legged robot, built by Boston Dynamics, scans sections of mud and gravel to check on work progress. Covid-19 curbs have sped up the pace of technology adoption by companies. — Reuters

SINGAPORE: After struggling to find employees during the pandemic, businesses in Singapore have increasingly turned to deploying robots to help carry out a range of tasks, from surveying construction sites to scanning library bookshelves.

The city-state relies on foreign workers, but their number fell by 235,700 between December 2019 and September 2021, according to the manpower ministry, which notes how Covid-19 curbs have sped up “the pace of technology adoption and automation” by companies.