Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Robots May Not be the End of Human Retail Jobs

Robots May Not be the End of Human Retail Jobs

Photo credit: Amazon’s Kiva robot in action Robots have been pegged as major threats to retail jobs—however, the concern could be more overblown than previously thought.

While headlines continue to tout retail’s demise, automation’s role in creating more, higher salary jobs has been largely overlooked, The Wall Street Journal reported . The popularity of robots has led to an uptick in e-commerce jobs over the past few years, since companies are looking to innovate and hire more people to fulfill consumer demands.

Even though brick-and-mortar store closures are rampant, e-commerce tycoons, like Amazon, have offset job loss with their high-tech fulfillment […]

Automation to Transform Employment for Americans

Fears of Robots Eliminating Jobs is Overblown, Says Machine Vision Manufacturer

WOBURN, MA, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 — Job insecurity has fueled a general unease among American workers, driven not by foreign competition but by advancing technology. According to pessimists, millions of jobs will disappear in coming years because of robots, driverless vehicles and Artificial Intelligence, sparking mass social unrest and upheaval.

These fears are greatly overblown, says Donal Waide, Director of Sales for BitFlow, a manufacturer of machine vision components used in robotics, automation systems and quality control."Technology has altered the employment prospects of Americans since the automobile closed down […]

3 ways automation can help workers in the future

3 ways automation can help workers in the future

While Elon Musk is tweeting that super-intelligent robots will bring World War III, there are other experts rebuking dystopian visions and are offering a more hopeful take. There are prominent doomsayers like Tesla CEO Elon Musk who believe automation will take away our jobs and usefulness as human beings — and kick off the robot apocalypse. But in recent studies and interviews, many experts have come out on the other side with a more measured take on how automation can improve workers’ conditions and actually create new jobs. 1) More jobs

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal made the […]

Vanguard Wonders When Machines Take Over, Who Buys ETFs?

Vanguard Wonders When Machines Take Over, Who Buys ETFs?

Citing an Oxford University study that predicted 67% of US jobs will be lost to computers – with job loss numbers climbing to 69% in India and 77% in China – the swarm of smart technology sweeping the job market doesn’t outwardly paint a bright picture, noted Joe Davis, Vanguard’s global chief economist. “Who will be left to buy ETFs?” he questioned at the Morningstar ETF Conference. “Wealthy machines?” But the computerized future isn’t that bleak, he said, pointing to the one trend that he said will shape human history more than any other. There are certain methods of […]

Industrial robots and the new China Syndrome

Industrial robots and the new China Syndrome

Sean Culey Last year, China bought 66,000 industrial robots. This might not seem like an extraordinary figure for a country of over a billion people, but when you consider that each of these machines can do the jobs of 15 or more full-time employees, the impact begins to look more significant: it means that 66,000 robots could potentially do the work of one million people.

China purchased one-quarter of all the industrial robots manufactured in 2016. So, using these figures, we could make a reasonable claim that manufacturing jobs alone may already be falling to the machines at a rate […]

How artificial intelligence can define not destroy the future of work

How artificial intelligence can define not destroy the future of work

Artificial intelligence is going to change the work of millions, but it doesn’t have to mean the robot-led devastation that many are fearing. Shutterstock.com by Daniel Darling

Work is a defining feature of our civilisation. We spend more time in our jobs than any other activity and the spoils of our labour provide us the means to survive. It gives identity, status and purpose.

So we can be forgiven if we get nervous when our jobs are threatened. And there has never been a clearer threat than increasing automation through robotics and AI. I am of the camp that ultimately, in […]

Rise of the robots: Workers should be afraid. Very afraid.

Rise of the robots: Workers should be afraid. Very afraid.

Concerned that robots and automation are disrupting huge swaths of the U.S. economy? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

For years, industrial robots have increasingly displaced human beings in manufacturing-heavy sectors such as automobiles and consumer electronics. However, a new report released by Citi and the University of Oxford predicts that as much as 80 percent of retail and related warehousing jobs are now at risk from automation. Likewise, some 63 percent of sales jobs are also at risk, the report said. VIEW SLIDESHOW 21 photos Of course, some cities and regions are more at risk than others, particularly ones in […]

Amazon Warehouse Employees Are The Most Important Workers in America

Amazon Warehouse Employees Are The Most Important Workers in America

The future is not completely unpredictable. Many of the most powerful economic and political trends in this country can be found inside an Amazon warehouse. And what happens to the workers there will say a lot about our collective future.

Our nation—as it often has throughout modern history—is experiencing a diffuse sense that our future is uncertain, that our economic prospects are unstable, and that the material success experienced by past generations may become impossible to attain for future generations. The fabled “economic anxiety” afflicting millions of us with a vague sense of dread is real enough. This, despite the […]

Deutsche Bank plans to replace a “big number” of workers with robots

Deutsche Bank plans to replace a “big number” of workers with robots

Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan said a “big number” of employees will eventually lose their jobs as technology makes their roles obsolete, according to the Financial Times (paywall). The German bank employs about 100,000 people and is in the middle of a five-year restructuring plan.

At a “ Banking in Transition ” conference in Frankfurt today, Cryan noted that some employees—like accountants who “spend a lot of the time basically being an abacus”—will have to find new things to do, according to the FT. “In our banks we have people behaving like robots doing mechanical things, tomorrow we’re going to […]

Amazon Has Become A Macro Phenomenon

Summary

Has Amazon become so big that it is starting to affect how the US economy behaves?

The evidence is somewhat mixed, Amazon probably exerts downward pressure on prices, but not on wages.At least, not yet, because we are likely to be close to an inflection point where the automation of the whole logistical trajectory is going to get automated.That will likely have a much more profound effect on employment and wages.One of the riddles that is even vexing the Fed is why wages aren’t rising faster, given that the unemployment rate is already at, or even below what many […]