Innovation presents wealth of new job opportunities: expert

Despite concerns that innovation could cost jobs in some traditional sectors, new technologies could present a wealth of new opportunities for companies and workers, a top expert at global consultancy firm EY said on Thursday, adding that China has done a “remarkable” job of supporting innovation.

New technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence and blockchain could mean changes in some industries and jobs, but it could also prompt the birth of new businesses and opportunities, Jeff Wong, EY Global Chief Innovation Officer, said at a press briefing in Beijing.

“The net effect is positive,” Wong said. “Because of these technologies, whether it’s automation or artificial intelligence or blockchain, we are able to have a wealth of new opportunities for companies to step into.”

Having determined that innovation drives economic growth and creates jobs, the Chinese government has put much focus on supporting innovation and entrepreneurship through initiatives such as “Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” which aims to support companies’ innovation efforts.

In the past three years, more than 40,000 new market entities have been registered each day, which means that there are more than 10 million new entities each year, Premier Li Keqiang said at a press conference on March 15.

“Innovation and entrepreneurship also created a lot of new jobs and helped the implementation of our innovation- driven economic development strategy [ in China],” Li said.

Wong on Thursday also commended the progress China has made in creating a better environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. “China has done a remarkable job over the past generation of creating new companies, creating a new environment, and creating incredible growth,” he said.

But to prepare the labor force for changes in the job market, governments, communities and companies need to work jointly to educate workers to be more adaptive over time, rather than just acquiring specific skills, according to Wong.

“You can’t just teach them the next tool to use … you have to teach them how to figure out or fix something, it’s that concept that I think will be important here,” he said.

Despite US President Donald Trump’s focus on manufacturing and his tough stance on China, Wong said, the spirit of innovation in Silicon Valley won’t be “dampened by external forces” and the interest that Chinese and US companies have in each other’s country will continue to grow.