TOPSHOT – A general view of the driver's seat and controls of a self-driving robotic vehicle developed as part of tech giant Baidu's Apollo Go self-driving project, is seen on Aug. 1, 2024, in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. Self-driving taxis are slowly spreading across Chinese cities, raising concerns and surprise. (Photo: PEDRO PARDO/AFP) / TO FIT: CHINA-TECH-AUTO, FOCUS BY JING XUANTING (Photo: PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)
Pedro Pardo | AFP | Getty Images
Robotic taxis in China have raised concerns about job security among drivers, but experts say the technology is already creating new jobs.
On Tuesday, China issued 16,000 test licenses for self-driving vehicles and opened 32,000 kilometers of public test roads. In June, the government gave the green light to nine domestic automakers, including BYD and Nio, to begin testing conditional automated driving technologies on designated public roads. Elon Musk is looking to secure regulatory approval for Tesla’s full self-driving technology by the end of this year.
But all this action has led many Chinese social media users to say that autonomous driving is “snatching rice bowls” from drivers, or putting them out of work.
In the long run, self-driving will certainly replace driver jobs. But then again, there is already a shortage of drivers. So, taxi companies are certainly benefiting from this.
Mohit Sharma
Analyst, Counterpoint Research
Baidu Self-driving car rental platform Apollo Go operates about 400 robotaxi in Wuhan — its largest operating area — and plans to increase that to 1,000 by the end of the year. Robin Li, Baidu’s chief executive, said the company’s share of Wuhan’s car rental market is only about 1%.
“The expansion will be a gradual process and could take many years,” he told me during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Aug. 22.
The Apollo Go service has become so popular that taxi drivers have petitioned the Wuhan Transport Authority to limit use of the service, according to media reports.
A check on the Apollo Go app showed that a 16-minute robo-taxi ride within Beijing's southern suburbs would cost 10.36 yuan ($1.46), about half the 20 yuan fare listed on ride-hailing apps that can hail taxis.
New jobs created
Despite the headlines, experts say autonomous mobility will mature gradually.
“You won’t lose all the jobs at once. It will be a slow transition, region by region, region by region,” said Mohit Sharma, research analyst at Counterpoint Research.
Governments could partner with robotaxi companies to shift drivers into other jobs, while education systems could train new generations for the jobs of the future, he added.
An Apollo Go spokesperson said the company is committed to creating new job opportunities in the ecosystem. The company added that roles include monitoring and testing systems, as well as data interpretation.
Wang Guan, who has been working as a road test operator at Apollo Go for about two years, told CNBC that she decided to join the industry because she was interested in it. Road test operators test autonomous vehicles and provide feedback on issues they encounter during testing to improve them.
She was working at an auto company, but felt her career was stagnant there, so she took the opportunity to work at Apollo Go instead.
“It's very challenging. It's very different from my previous job,” she said in Chinese of her current role, as translated by CNBC. “In this role, I'm trying to figure out the problems and issues related to self-driving cars.”
The industry is “creating a wide range of new, well-paying jobs” in the United States, said Jeff Farah, CEO of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association. These roles include service technicians, remote assistance operators, mapping specialists, navigators and terminal operators, he added.
“While autonomous vehicles perform all aspects of the driving task, workers are essential to this technology. It is also important to remember that the increased accessibility benefits provided by autonomous vehicles will help the disability community access new job opportunities,” Farah said.
While there is always some job displacement when new technology enters the market, Sharma agreed that innovation will also create “more jobs and new jobs because of technology.” Sharma cited cybersecurity, vehicle testing and verification, and software development as some of the opportunities.
“In the long run, autonomous driving will certainly replace driver jobs,” he said. “But again, there is already a shortage of drivers. So, certainly, for taxi companies, you can see it being beneficial for them.”
— CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
Clarification: This story has been edited to reflect Apollo Go's updated robotaxi count in Wuhan.
