Protect workers, rather than jobs

TECHNOLOGY optimists argue that progress creates many more jobs than it destroys. They say fears over job losses are as misplaced as Luddite worries in the 19th century over the loss of jobs like horse-and-buggy driver or loom weaver. More recently, the introduction of ATMs also supports this view since the machines haven’t replaced bank tellers but broadened their roles into customer relationship management.

Certainly, the skyscrapers in cities like Manila and Mumbai are filled with people doing new jobs that have moved them and many others from poverty into the middle class. The last two decades have seen a wave of new professional jobs created in developing Asia, from research analysts to programmers, environmental scientists and data engineers.