IAF President predicted the disappearance of unskilled labor in the clothing industry

In the next five years, technological modernization and robotization of the clothing industry will completely eliminate the need for unskilled workers. This forecast was voiced by the President of the International Federation of Clothing Manufacturers (IAF) Cem Altan on Monday at the fourth BRICS+ Fashion Summit (held from September 28 to 30 in the Zaryadye Concert Hall), reports a Lenta.ru correspondent.

Both low-skilled workers engaged in textile production and those who perform simple manual operations are becoming a thing of the past, Altan noted. This category includes packers, sorters, finished product cleaners, and general laborers.

Industry representatives will have to master digital technologies and data collection methods, the IAF president warned. The industry will be interested in quality controllers, cutters and pattern developers. But now this list includes engineering personnel and specialists with technical education who are able to cope with digital platforms,” he noted.

Given business demands for sustainability, the market will also need engineers to monitor energy and water consumption, Altan said. The demand for specialists managing the full production cycle and implementing blockchain technologies will also increase.

“You may not be an engineer by degree, but you can work like an engineer - for example, have the necessary competencies for supply chain management,” Nasir Butt, CEO of Body Media International PVT LTD, supported his colleague.

A similar forecast was voiced by the head of government relations at PT Pan Brothers Tbk, Rizal Tansil Rahman. In his opinion, in a ten-year perspective, automation will finally replace routine manual labor, but will open the way for specialties at the intersection of disciplines - for example, sustainability officers responsible for the environmental friendliness of factories.

Nevertheless, a complete abandonment of the human factor in production will not happen. Seamstresses will always be needed, since “nothing can replace their sensitive hands,” says Inshade chief designer Gulnaz Safonova.

The CEO of the Association of Exporters and Manufacturers of Botswana, Mmantla Sankoloba, in turn, recalled that robotization always creates new jobs. “We will probably need to write prompts for robots and machines and test them,” she concluded.