Introduction
The COVID-19 outbreak, which has become the most important agenda item in the world after its emergence, has had significant effects on economy and social life. This outbreak emerging in December 2019 and spreading to millions of people all around the world except for a few countries costed hundreds of thousands of lives by March 2020.
Each country has implemented various measures by creating its own policies in order to, first, slow down and stop the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak which is spreading very quickly and against which there is no treatment methods such as vaccines or drugs. As a result of measures such as quarantines, curfews, social distance, hand hygiene and the obligation to use masks, social life has changed and restricted considerably. Naturally, these restrictions also affected working life, resulting in new working arrangements. Digital service and employment of robot workers, which is on the rise with the introduction of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, played a key role in the efficient use of production facilities in this new working order. In this part, we will briefly mention industrial revolution, the development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the progress of robot employment and digitalization in employment, especially over the last 20 years. We will discuss how the changes in working methods resulting from the measures taken against COVID-19 outbreak, such as working from home and digital services, have affected the rising graphic of digitalization in employment and robot employment. We will also suggest some solutions for possible economic problems that may arise with the increase of robot employment.The COVID-19 outbreak, which affects the whole world and introduces new concepts and practices into our daily life, has not only had great effects in health and social life, but also brought many new practices in the economy. The measures taken in Turkey to reduce the rate of spread and stop the outbreak set by “Coronavirus Science Committee”, namely quarantine, social distancing, hygiene and mask, have adversely affected the economy in the short term.
In many sectors operating efficiently in the economy, primarily in the food and accommodation sectors, services and activities were temporarily suspended and partially reopened after the effect of the virus began to decrease. In this process, important developments have been made in the field of employment. Many working models such as working from home, digital service and online commerce have been used more widely than ever before. The importance of robot employment has been recognized in heavy industry, which has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and where production has almost stopped.This study mentions industrial revolutions and technological innovations brought along and then focuses on the participation of robots in economic and daily life. The study examines the places that robots have been given in employment and their development in this field. The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the economy, digitalization in employment and robot employment are discussed. In addition, public intervention scenarios regarding the solution of problems that will possibly arise as a result of robotization in employment and the unemployment that it will cause are evaluated.
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