REPORT: From manufacturing to mobility - unions prepare for the mobility sector of the future

The facts

Main elements of future mobility concepts:

• The quantity of cars in urban areas needs to decrease to get out of the gridlock and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• To maintain or even improve the level of mobility despite an important reduction of individual mobility (mainly by car), shared services have to significantly expand. This relates to both existing forms of public transport (trains, subways, trams, buses etc.), as well as to new ridehailing and ride-sharing services (buses, taxis, motorcycles, bicycles, scooters etc.).
• Digital platform operators will allow the combination of all kinds of transport modes by introducing flexible intermodal/multioptional transport solutions.
• The collection and usage of big data in artificial intelligence systems is a key component in all projects to digitize mobility concepts. 
• The new technology will also allow the introduction of autonomous vehicles (e.g. ‘robotaxis’), requiring the installation of a variety of digital devices (internet, sensors, radar, lidar etc.), allowing proper communication between vehicles and between vehicles and the (road) infrastructure.
• Autonomous vehicles allow access to rural areas by public transport. The elimination of labour costs would make it more profitable to service customers in sparsely populated regions.
• Currently, it is mainly tech companies that have entered the mobility market as they have the software, the technology and the products required for the digitization of the sector, and the implementation of new services and transport modes.
• Those tech companies base their economic action on different business models than traditional mobility providers. The credible presentation of a business concept to get access to venture capital is paramount. Quarterly balance sheets and short to mid-term profitability become of secondary importance.
• The tech companies will not simply replace traditional mobility providers. There will be multiple forms of cooperation and networks. The open question is who will create most of the value added, who will set the working conditions etc.
• The reform and digitization of transport systems will lead to job losses in the traditional public transport and automotive industry. It will create new jobs, particularly in IT, the service sector and in digital transport infrastructure. It is highly likely that the amount of new jobs will compensate for the jobs lost.
• Among the new jobs there will be highly qualified and well paid positions and there will be other jobs, mainly in the service areas, that are often characterized by precarious working conditions.

Here are just a few examples:

Arturo, 52

Has been working as a turner on CNC machines in a transmission plant of a large automotive company in Argentina for the past 31 years. His plant is going to close in the coming years as electric vehicles don’t need a (complex) transmission. Over the past three decades, some of the main skills that Arturo has acquired are: high precision metal machining, operation of a numerically controlled machine, maintenance activities, quality control, understanding of a complex manufacturing process, teamwork and shift work.
What will it take to up- and re-skill Arturo so that he can find a new job? How about adding new skills in the field of electronics and mechatronics to enable him to install digital road infrastructure required to the safe operation of autonomous vehicles?

Christine, 43

Has been working as ticket seller and later as station supervisor to ensure safety and cleanliness in a French underground system. She lost her work as ticket seller more than ten years ago to a machine. Artificial intelligence will also make her job as supervisor redundant in the course of the next five years. Her main skills today relate to the supervision of a rather complex transport system, vigilance systems, basic computer skills, teamwork and shift work.
What will it take to up- and re-skill Christine so that he can find a new job? How about some new computer skills so that she can monitor the introduction of robo-taxi fleets in the future?

Kiara, 28

Has been employed by a business-to-business call center in India for the past eight years. She was mainly in charge of book keeping operations for a large US company. A new software will soon make her activity unnecessary. The skills she acquired lie in the fields of book keeping and related computer programmes, basic controlling and customer relations.
What will it take to up- and re-skill Kiara so that he can find a new job? It probably requires some serious and on-going IT up-skilling for her to find a new job with a longer perspective.