Advantage women: how an automated future could play to women’s strengths

March 09, 2019 | Richard I. Schaefer


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  • In light of International Women’s Day, RBC Economics released a report about how an automated future could play into women’s strengths. RBC Economics’ report shows that women hold over half of the 35% of Canadian jobs at risk of automation. Automation is disrupting not only the manufacturing industry, but also the services sector, including administrative, book-keeping and data-entry jobs. These positions are traditionally held by a large number of women, but are starting to be replaced using robotics and artificial intelligence. RBC Economics estimates that 3.4 million positions held by women in Canada are at risk of automation.
  • On the positive side, the report highlights that women are also central to roles that would be difficult to automate. Digital and social skills will be in high demand, and the shift is already beginning. RBC Economics believes that there are solutions that can help during the transition to automation, including open-access to labour market data that identifies job opportunities based on transferable skills, as well as programs to help employees and employers assess said skills.