The expectations for the robot market in Latin America in 2019 are that it will reach USD$1,266 million, with a growth of 21% compared to last year, according to IDC’s Worldwide Semiannual Robotics Spending Guide. For several years, the boost in robotics has come hand in hand with the rise of robotics for the automation of production processes for mass consumption items, so it is estimated that this market will cover 73% of industrial robots, 27% of service robots and 0.09% of consumer robots.
This study also shows that robots used for food production have been gaining ground due to the high demand for labor for work within this activity.
The most important use cases for the service robot segment are packaging, pipe inspection, agricultural production and security. This robotics is projected to grow in agriculture, especially in fruit and vegetable harvesting, and will also grow in the modernization of infrastructure in Latin American countries. As for industrial robots, the main uses are assembly, welding, product packaging, mixing, inspection and bottling. However, in the consumer sector there is still a lack of development to find relevant use cases, which are being preceded by virtual assistants and small robots that help with some cleaning tasks in homes.
On the other hand, and continuing with the predictions, IDC predicts that by 2022 the industrial robots segment will comprise 72% of the market and will reach USD$2.15 billion.
These figures are in line with a study by the World Economic Forum, which states that robotisation will make more than half of current jobs disappear by 2025, as machines will perform most of the tasks currently performed by humans. But it is not all negative, because although it is estimated that 75 million jobs will disappear, the robotic revolution could have a positive impact with the creation of 58 million new jobs worldwide.
The sectors that will be most affected by this automation will be accounting, secretarial work, assembly plants, customer service centers and postal services. On the other hand, the jobs that will grow the most will be data analysts, e-commerce and social media specialists, software developers, and marketing experts.
These studies make it clear that in the coming years we will face a radical change, a major transformation within the labor market, which will have to be addressed with training, since workers’ knowledge will have to be updated. This new workforce will have to coexist with robots and in this scenario, adaptation and preparation will be crucial, as well as joint work between companies, government and the workers themselves to achieve balance and a better quality of life for all.
