Adopting technology in favour of human labour: A managerial perspective on the impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies in South Africa

Abstract

The unemployment rate in South Africa has reached unsustainable levels and the advancements in the capabilities of technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution are such that what was once considered science fiction is now becoming a reality. Making use of an exploratory qualitative research design, this study sets out to explore what would be the driving forces behind business leaders wanting to adopt fourth industrial technologies in South Africa and where does the responsibility for a solution reside to the unemployment challenges which South Africa faces. A total of fourteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews with senior business leaders across ten different industries took place to gather the required data. The findings of this study showed that there is an awareness amongst business leaders when it comes to the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, their capabilities, as well as the impact these technologies can potentially have in exacerbating levels of unemployment. The findings show however that business leaders do not believe that South Africa’s current unemployment challenge has been caused by the adoption of technologies of the fourth industrial revolution primarily due to limited adoption rates. Business leaders see competitive advantage as a strong enough driver to adopt technologies even at the expense of human labour, and concerningly they see South Africa’s education system as inadequate when it comes to arming humans with the skills required to succeed in a world which is continuing to integrate with technologies of the fourth industrial revolution. This research and its findings contribute to the extant literature on Technological Unemployment.