IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijlaec/v68y2025i2d10.1007_s41027-024-00551-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digitisation, Automation and ‘Jobs at Risk’: A Comparative Analysis of BRIS Countries, and a Detailed Analysis of the Indian Scenario

Author

Listed:
  • Dinesh Awasthi

    (L J University)

  • Jignasu Yagnik

    (L J University)

Abstract

The paper deliberates the implications of emerging technologies, especially digitisation and automation, for jobs, and the magnitude of 'jobs at risk' in BRIS (Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa) nations. Our results indicate that the proportion of jobs at high risk due to automation was highest in India with 74.35% in 2021, followed by Brazil (67.40%), and Russia (47.39%); substantiating the argument that higher technology readiness lowers the risk of automation. Overall, our estimates indicate that 46.60% of workers in Russia, 49.90% in Brazil, 60.00% in South Africa, and 65.70% of workers in India face a serious risk of automation. Our analysis indicates that the jobs at risk are inversely related to the level of technological advancement of a country. Nevertheless, irrespective of the level of technological advancement, all the countries face the risk of automation on employment, though in varying proportions. The issue is further aggravated because of the low level of the educational background of workers across occupational classifications in BRIS countries, especially in India. There is a need to conduct a series of country-specific research to gauge the issue globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Dinesh Awasthi & Jignasu Yagnik, 2025. "Digitisation, Automation and ‘Jobs at Risk’: A Comparative Analysis of BRIS Countries, and a Detailed Analysis of the Indian Scenario," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 68(2), pages 417-450, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:68:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s41027-024-00551-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s41027-024-00551-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41027-024-00551-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41027-024-00551-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert J. Gordon, 2016. "The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10544.
    2. David H. Autor & Michael J. Handel, 2013. "Putting Tasks to the Test: Human Capital, Job Tasks, and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(S1), pages 59-96.
    3. David H. Autor, 2015. "Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 3-30, Summer.
    4. Dev Nathan & Neetu Ahmed, 2018. "Technological Change and Employment: Creative Destruction," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 61(2), pages 281-298, June.
    5. Daniel B. le Roux, 2018. "Automation and employment: The case of South Africa," African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 507-517, June.
    6. Pankaj Vashisht & Nisha Rani, 2019. "Automation and Future of Garment Sector Jobs: A Case Study of India," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Working Paper 385, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, India.
    7. Nathan, Dev. & Ahmed, Neetu., 2018. "Technological change and employment creative destruction," ILO Working Papers 994980893502676, International Labour Organization.
    8. Joel Mokyr & Chris Vickers & Nicolas L. Ziebarth, 2015. "The History of Technological Anxiety and the Future of Economic Growth: Is This Time Different?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 31-50, Summer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ville-Veikko Pulkka, 2017. "A free lunch with robots – can a basic income stabilise the digital economy?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(3), pages 295-311, August.
    2. Seamus McGuinness & Konstantinos Pouliakas & Paul Redmond, 2023. "Skills-displacing technological change and its impact on jobs: challenging technological alarmism?," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 370-392, April.
    3. Jasmine Mondolo, 2022. "The composite link between technological change and employment: A survey of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1027-1068, September.
    4. Arntz, Melanie & Gregory, Terry & Zierahn-Weilage, Ulrich, 2019. "Digitalization and the Future of Work: Macroeconomic Consequences," IZA Discussion Papers 12428, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Eckhardt Bode & Stephan Brunow & Ingrid Ott & Alina Sorgner, 2019. "Worker Personality: Another Skill Bias beyond Education in the Digital Age," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 20(4), pages 254-294, November.
    6. Balwant Singh Mehta & Ishwar Chandra Awasthi, 2019. "Industry 4.0 and Future of Work in India," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 8(1), pages 9-16, March.
    7. Weller, Jürgen, 2020. "Technological change and employment in Latin America: opportunities and challenges," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    8. Böhm, Robert & Letmathe, Peter & Schinner, Matthias, 2023. "The monetary value of competencies: A novel method and case study in smart manufacturing," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    9. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Li, Jiangnan & Yan, Jingyang, 2025. "Can artificial intelligence contribute to the new energy system? Based on the perspective of labor supply," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. David J. Deming, 2017. "The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(4), pages 1593-1640.
    11. Caselli, Mauro & Fracasso, Andrea & Scicchitano, Sergio & Traverso, Silvio & Tundis, Enrico, 2025. "What workers and robots do: An activity-based analysis of the impact of robotization on changes in local employment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    12. Armanda Cetrulo & Dario Guarascio & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2020. "Anatomy of the Italian occupational structure: concentrated power and distributed knowledge," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(6), pages 1345-1379.
    13. Lo Bello,Salvatore & Sanchez Puerta,Maria Laura & Winkler,Hernan Jorge, 2019. "From Ghana to America : The Skill Content of Jobs and Economic Development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8758, The World Bank.
    14. Goos, Maarten & Rademakers, Emilie & Röttger, Ronja, 2021. "Routine-Biased technical change: Individual-Level evidence from a plant closure," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    15. Włoch, Renata & Śledziewska, Katarzyna & Rożynek, Satia, 2025. "Who's afraid of automation? Examining determinants of fear of automation in six European countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Zhou, Yuwen & Shi, Xin, 2025. "How does digital technology adoption affect corporate employment? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    17. Thomsen, Stephan L, 2018. "Die Rolle der Computerisierung und Digitalisierung für Beschäftigung und Einkommen," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-645, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    18. Aniruddh Mohan & Parth Vaishnav, 2022. "Impact of automation on long haul trucking operator-hours in the United States," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    19. Simon Eisele & Martin R. Schneider, 2020. "What Do Unions Do to Work Design? Computer Use, Union Presence, and Tayloristic Jobs in Britain," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 604-626, October.
    20. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2017. "Decomposing Value Added Growth into Explanatory Factors," Discussion Papers 2017-02, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:68:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s41027-024-00551-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.