Digitalisation a threat to jobs

PETALING JAYA: The main cause of bank employees possibly losing their jobs this year could be due to digitalisation, said National Union of Bank Workers (Nube) secretary-general J. Solomon.
He said although the union has not been informed of the move, there is widespread talk of such an exercise to be conducted.
"If this happens, banks have the duty to bring back jobs that have been outsourced and jobs done by contract workers to ensure that their permanent employees will not be jobless," he said.
He added Bank Negara should play a proactive role by asking banks to stop their outsourcing practice. Otherwise, at the end of the day, bank employees will be affected.
For example, there is a bank that has an outsource centre in Cyberjaya that employs close to 5,000 people, said Solomon. If the bank plans to retrench workers, it must bring those jobs back to the bank.
He added that there are many other banks that have outsource centres in Cyberjaya and other places.
He pointed out banks continue to reap profits but it should not be at the expense of employees, adding that there must be profit equability, and banks must share their wealth with employees.
Solomon said Bank Negara and the Finance Ministry are aware of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 but so far they have not taken any action to prepare bank employees for these changes.
"Those who regulate the financial sector should have prepared training modules for bank employees to enable them to meet the challenges of the Industrial Revolution 4.0."
Solomon said even though digitalisation is set to make its mark, there is still a need for workers to man the systems.
Bank employees could be trained to carry out such duties.
Solomon said there must also be a social dialogue between the banking sector and the union to look at how employees can be helped to meet the coming changes.