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Published
2025-12-31
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Socioeconomic Impacts of Automation and Emerging Technologies on Workforce Dynamics
Fatima Siddiqui
Department of Economics, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
Muhammad Hamza Iqbal
School of Social Sciences & Humanities, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan
Keywords: Automation, Robotics, Labor Market Polarization, Job Quality, Skills Development, Informal Employment, Inclusive Growth
Abstract
Automation and emerging technologies—particularly artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, cloud computing, and platform-based digital labor markets—are reshaping workforce dynamics by altering the task content of jobs, shifting skill demands, and changing bargaining power across sectors. This article synthesizes evidence from labor economics, innovation studies, and development policy to explain how technology adoption influences employment levels, job quality, wage dispersion, and informality—especially in emerging economies where labor markets are segmented and social protection is uneven. We argue that the net effect on employment depends less on “jobs replaced” and more on firm-level diffusion, complementary investments (skills, process redesign, data infrastructure), and institutional capacity to manage transitions. The analysis highlights four transmission channels—task substitution and augmentation, reallocation across firms and sectors, changes in wage-setting institutions and market concentration, and new forms of algorithmic management—showing why outcomes can range from productivity-led wage growth to polarization and exclusion. We conclude with a policy framework emphasizing skills ecosystems, worker protections for non-standard work, competition and data governance, and targeted support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt productivity-enhancing technologies without deepening inequality.
