Robots fill Singapore’s labour shortage

Singaporean businesses have begun widespread deployment of assistant robots due to a labour shortage. Reuters reports.

According to Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower, the number of foreign workers fell by 235,700 from December 2019 to September 2021 due to migration restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Authorities said this has accelerated the pace of adoption and automation of technologies by companies.

Construction firm Gammon said it had begun using the four-legged Spot robot to scan dirt and gravel sites. After checks on the progress of the work, the data are returned to the dispatch office.

According to Gammon’s general manager Michael O’Connell, using Spot requires only one worker instead of two who previously performed the tasks manually.

“The substitution of the need for labour on site with autonomous solutions is gaining momentum,” he said.

O’Connell said the labour shortage in the industry, worsened by the pandemic, is not going away.

The National Library of Singapore unveiled two robots that can scan labels on 100,000 books (about 30% of its collection) per day.

“Staff do not need to read the numbers one by one, and this reduces the routine and labourious components of the job,” Li Yi Fuang, assistant director of the library, said.

Robots are also used to address customer-related tasks: at more than 30 metro stations, devices are installed that prepare coffee for passengers.

However, some service users noted a lack of human interaction.

“We always want to have some human contact,” said a metro passenger, Ashish Kumar.

In April, Elon Musk said that Tesla’s robot business will become more profitable than its automotive business.

In January, researchers said that by 2040 widespread automation at workplaces will deprive 12 million Europeans of work.

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