Automation Impact on Jobs Archives - Page 674 of 856

How will Hong Kong fare in the new wave of automation?

A technician prepares SoftBank Robotics ‘Pepper’, a humanoid robot, at the 2017 World Robot Conference in Beijing on August 22, 2017. Photo: Reuters Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos has a favourite saying: ‘Your margin is my opportunity’. Photo: AFP With revolutionary developments in robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the concept of automation replacing human jobs is quickly becoming a reality.

But there is serious debate about the consequences of automation on labour and economic markets, with a clear division between optimists and pessimists. Optimists believe that new forms of technology will lead to higher labour productivity, which in turn, will […]

Full Post at www.scmp.com

Counterpoint: Unions Are Irrelevant

Editor’s Note: For an alternative viewpoint, please see: Point: Organized Labor Is Not Going Away

Labor Day is celebrated to recognize the important contributions that U.S. workers make to the economic prosperity of America. But at the same time, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the declining relevance of organized labor to the success of our workers.

A century ago, unions played an important role in the labor movement by boosting workers’ wages, improving working conditions and giving workers a voice in the workplace. Unions were relevant then because organized labor provided a platform by which workers could better […]

Full Post at www.insidesources.com

Invasion of the job snatchers? Use of robots in workplace on the rise

To view this page ensure that Adobe Flash Player version 10.2.0 or greater is installed.

It’s only about 50 feet to the shipping station, but if employees at Cochlear Americas had to walk each order back and forth, they would work longer days.

They used to do the walk. That was before “Morty,” the autonomous-moving cart, joined the hearing-implant company in Centennial in January. Morty — also called Robbie or Suzy, depending on which Cochlear employee you ask — maneuvers between workstations, curious visitors and unidentified objects as it thoughtfully takes packages between workstations to the shipping area all day long. […]

Full Post at www.denverpost.com

What the Industrial Revolution really tells us about the future of automation and work

As automation and artificial intelligence technologies improve, many people worry about the future of work. If millions of human workers no longer have jobs, the worriers ask , what will people do, how will they provide for themselves and their families, and what changes might occur (or be needed) in order for society to adjust?

Many economists say there is no need to worry . They point to how past major transformations in work tasks and labor markets – specifically the Industrial Revolution during the 18th and 19th centuries – did not lead to major social upheaval or widespread suffering […]

Full Post at theconversation.com

The Meaning of Work in a Sustainable Society

Employees of the workers’ cooperative Scop-Ti at the their factory in Gemenos, southern France. The workers’ cooperative took over the factory, formerly Fralib Gemenos, after struggling nearly four years with the multinational Unilver to prevent the relocation of the factory. John Bellamy Foster is the editor of Monthly Review . His latest book is Trump in the White House: Tragedy and Farce , forthcoming from Monthly Review Press.

This article is a revised version of “ The Meaning of Work in a Sustainable Society: A Marxian View ,” published in March 2017 by the Center for the Understanding of Sustainable […]

Full Post at monthlyreview.org

Manufacturing Adds 36,000 Jobs, Paced by Durable Goods

Senior Editor US manufacturers added 36,000 jobs in August paced by makers of durable goods, especially motorized vehicles and parts. It was the best manufacturing job performance of 2017.

Durable goods industries boosted employment by 28,000 jobs, according a breakdown by sector issued today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Vehicle and parts production led the way, adding 13,700 jobs, as output geared up following seasonal shutdowns earlier in the summer. US light vehicle sales declined 2.9% for the first seven months of 2017, according to Autodata Corp. Deliveries totaled a record 17.55 million last year. Automakers are scheduled to […]

Full Post at advancedmanufacturing.org

The Utopian Apocalypse: Silicon Valley Freaks Out Over Automation

September 1, 2017, 12:05 am

With Labor Day just around the corner, now is a good time to discuss (and, more than that, to take up the cudgels against) a bad idea popularized by leading figures in Silicon Valley. It is really a two-part idea. It begins with the proposition that the robots are coming and they are about to take over the world. While the robots will make life a whole lot easier for most people (think self-driving trucks and other labor-saving devices), they will also cause massive unemployment. Says Tesla CEO Elon Musk, “There will be fewer […]

Full Post at spectator.org

The Data Center Journal | Automation Spawns New Jobs and Takes Old Ones

This article was written by Greg Council and first published on August 16, 2017 in The Data Center Journal and an excerpt is provided below: Automation —whether from robotic process automation (RPA), traditional expert-based systems or new deep machine learning—is causing both excitement and anxiety regarding how it affects economies and jobs.

What’s the real driver of job loss? Is it globalization? Automation? Technological innovation? It’s all three and more when assessing the actual reasons for changes in employment. Although you can’t go far on the Internet without finding a doom-and-gloom article blaming automation for future mass unemployment and crying […]

Full Post at www.parascript.com

Turning the tide with cyber toolmakers

Ryan Ko reckons we need more cyber toolmakers Think about this. A unique malware is created every half second , but it takes companies on average 100-120 days to patch critical vulnerabilities .

Some may say the crux of the cyber-security problem is a skills shortage, while others lament the rigidity of corporations versus the abilities for cyber criminals to work in a guerrilla-style “Team of Teams.”

I agree with both schools of thought, but want to challenge deeper thinking. We cannot approach this sustainability issue in a quantitative way but must do so in a hybrid qualitative-quantitative way.We must train […]

Full Post at www.nbr.co.nz

The Utopian Apocalypse: Silicon Valley Freaks Out Over Automation

September 1, 2017, 12:05 am

With Labor Day just around the corner, now is a good time to discuss (and, more than that, to take up the cudgels against) a bad idea popularized by leading figures in Silicon Valley. It is really a two-part idea. It begins with the proposition that the robots are coming and they are about to take over the world. While the robots will make life a whole lot easier for most people (think self-driving trucks and other labor-saving devices), they will also cause massive unemployment. Says Tesla CEO Elon Musk, “There will be fewer […]

Full Post at spectator.org