Asia must prepare today for tomorrow's jobs

TECHNOLOGY optimists argue that progress creates many more jobs than it destroys. They say fears over job losses are as misplaced as Luddite worries in the 19th century over the loss of jobs such as those of horse-and-buggy drivers or loom weavers. More recently, the introduction of ATMs also supports this view, since the machines haven't replaced bank tellers but broadened their roles into customer-relationship management.

Certainly, the skyscrapers in cities like Manila and Mumbai are filled with people do…