Is technology stealing jobs?

To a degree, technology is taking over jobs, but these are the unskilled jobs. As an industry, according to Vito Rugani, the biggest carrot farmer in the country, agriculture will not have fewer jobs in 10 years than it does now.

Vito is an advocate for technological progress and sees it as the way to improve the livelihoods of the poor in South Africa.

“Technology is creating the opportunity to empower our workforce. An employee who previously earned a minimum wage and packed bags of carrots on to a pallet, is now a machine operator.

“This employee was upskilled and his or her productivity is much higher than it was a decade ago. This means that the employees in our business are valuable assets,” says Vito.