Name: Richelle T.

Pilapil Course: BS Accountancy Date: July 3, 2018

Subject: ACCTG 121B Sched.: TTH 7:30-9:00 AM Instructor: Mr. Reymar Dico, CPA

BUSINESS NEWS
‘Don’t Treat Automation as a Threat’
(Date: June 5, 2018 Source: SunStar Cebu)

For enterprises to become winners in their respective industries, they must embrace intelligent
automation.
Not only will it make business operations efficient, it would also upgrade the skills of its workforce
at the same time generate huge savings, said Joanna Tan, senior manager for advisory at SyCip
Gorres Velayo and Co. (SGV), during the firm’s roadshow on intelligent automation in Cebu on
Wednesday.
Tan told representatives of Cebu-based companies to embrace robotics process automation (RPA)
as it is the first step in the digital operations journey.
RPA is an innovative solution for automatic handling of high volume and repetitive business
processes. It is a software that mimics human behavior. The RPA market is projected to reach $2.9
billion by 2021, according to a global study. AI-enabled automation of knowledge work could cut
employment costs by an estimated $9 trillion by 2020. Automation could raise productivity growth
by 0.8 percent to 1.4 percent annually.
“Automation revolution is happening now. We don’t see (advancement) in technology stopping at
any point in time,” said Tan.
SGV advisory partner Maria Kathrina Macaisa said RPA should’t be seen as a threat to employment
but as an add-on that would allow businesses to produce a more value- added product or service
while retraining employees to handle advanced tasks. Macaisa said adopting RPA to automate
activities doesn’t rob people of jobs but allows companies to offer high-value jobs for its employees,
tasks that are not repetitive or low-value added activities.
RPA is a low-risk non-invasive technology. It can be overlaid on existing systems, allowing creation
of a platform compatible with ongoing developments in sophisticated algorithms and machine-
learning tools.
Core functional areas of supply chain, finance and human resource (HR) are the prime candidates
for driving process efficiency by utilizing automation, Tan pointed out.
On the business side, the adoption of RPA allows employers to save on costs by 20 to 35 percent.
Automation in the supply chain would enable employers to save costs by 10 to 15 percent; order to
cash by 40 to 60 percent; human resource by 60 to 80 percent; procure to pay by 50 to 70 percent;
finance by 30 to 50 percent; general accounting by 10 to 15 percent and controlling by 15 to 20
percent.

REFLECTION ESSAY:
Automation being regarded as a threat to jobs has been a very hot topic since many years
ago. I am not yet employed but after making a research, I prefer approaching the topic
optimistically. People have always said the coming of a seemingly increasing robotic workforce of
some sort could lead to fewer jobs. Actually, that is not entirely the case. In fact, it has lead to more
jobs and it has made businesses from all industries more efficient by cutting down on labor costs
and increasing speed of productivity.
Most methods of automation work best on processes that are simple and repetitive. These
are the tasks that can be done by just anyone, so machines are the perfect fit to take the place of
humans currently performing them. Even as these machines become more sophisticated and can
fulfill more complex roles without human assistance, jobs that require creativity and the ability to
solve unpredictable problems are in virtually no danger of being automated away. However, jobs
that require a human touch aren’t likely to be lost anytime soon. Rather, automation is making it
possible for workers to accomplish even more. As human labor has been replaced by machines,
workers have become increasingly educated to handle more sophisticated tasks.
Tax preparation is one industry where automation has caused the loss of some jobs, and is
expected to cost more in the coming years. However, humans are needed to provide customer
service and technical support for tax preparation software. Human tax preparers are also still
needed for complex or strange cases and humans are still the only ones who can interpret tax code
in novel situations. Another thing is when ATMs were introduced in the 1970s, in a global setting,
the number of tellers per bank did fall, but because ATMs reduced the cost of operating a bank
branch, more branches opened, which in turn hired more tellers. The tasks of those tellers evolved
from simply dispensing cash to selling other things the banks provided, like credit cards and loans.
And the skills those tellers had that the ATMs didn't, like problem solving, became more valuable.
With this, automation is indeed not a threat as much as an opportunity. It’s how we take
advantage of it as individuals and a society that will determine the outcome.