Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Letter: Exclusionary policies will hurt American workers

Letter: Exclusionary policies will hurt American workers

Many working-class Americans have felt abandoned by a government more focused on identity politics than the fact that their real wages have been stagnant for decades. Thirty-four percent of adults have no savings. Unfortunately, new trade and economic policies of exclusion will not help.

Five million American jobs depend on trade with Mexico. Largely as a result of Donald Trump’s candidacy and election, the peso has been devaluated five times since 2016.

The loss of manufacturing jobs is more a product of automation than trade policy. Since the 2009 economic recovery, 88 percent of these jobs require more than a high […]

The Future of Manufacturing – Big or Small?

The Future of Manufacturing – Big or Small?

Bruce Morey Contributing Editor Taking stock of a surprising and challenging 2016, a number of trends may point to a future where manufacturing output increases while continuing to decentralize. This may give hope to a surprising future of a distributed economy that begins to erode the monolithic big manufacturing we have taken for granted.

One of the major themes of the surprising political campaigns of 2016 was the loss of manufacturing employment in North America in recent decades. That fact alone is undeniable, according to statistics from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cause of this decline apparently […]

Robots May Replace Jobs that Trump Brings Back Home

Robots May Replace Jobs that Trump Brings Back Home

Recent policies that seek to protect American jobs are clear indication that Trump is absolutely serious about his promise to bring back jobs to America. However, when it comes to manufacturing, a different story is expected to play out. Many of the manufacturing jobs in the US are now being taken over by robots, thanks to the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. According to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), dependence on labor has already reduced in the automotive, electrical and electronics industries. This makes it difficult for Trump to go through […]

COLIN MACKAY: Advances causing job losses

COLIN MACKAY: Advances causing job losses

Columnist Colin MacKay. BELLEVILLE – Technological advances are helping to make people’s lives more convenient, but it’s coming at a price.
Automation, especially incorporating robotics, are eliminating jobs, particularly manufacturing ones. The theory goes technological advancement encourages growth and, in turn, creates jobs. However, as robotics continues to advance and replace people, the move away from traditional manufacturing jobs to service jobs is likely not progressing at a break even point. In Davos, Switzerland, at a World Economic Annual meeting, the idea of universal basic income was floated, due to the increasing number of jobs being lost. Replacing […]

The robots are coming, but they won’t be job killers

The robots are coming, but they won’t be job killers

Engineers test a humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 at Hankook Mirae Technology in Seoul, South Korea. The reason for automating rather than going with human labour is to lower the costs of production. Photo: AFP Hong Kong may change its listing rules and introduce a dual-class share structure after the exchange operator said it plans to consult the market on the launch of a third board in an effort to attract more listings by technology and new-economy firms. Photo: AFP Major cities like Hong Kong, London and New York are predicted to face unemployment rates of more than 80 […]

Robot as barista? Automation moves into service sector.

Robot as barista? Automation moves into service sector.

Customers at the San Francisco coffee shop don’t place their order with a cashier. And there’s no barista behind the counter to froth up cappuccinos, either. At Cafe X, a robot does all the work.

Instead of baristas, Cafe X employs a Mitsubishi 6-axis industrial robot that prepares and serves coffee as part of an entirely automated system. Customers order and purchase their specialty coffee either through on-site kiosks or a dedicated app, and the robotic arm compiles and delivers the beverage, entirely removing human interaction from the equation.

As one of the first fully mechanized coffee shops, Cafe X represents […]

New Technologies, Automation And The Future

New Technologies, Automation and the Future

Elliott R. Morss© All Rights Reserved

Introduction In recent postings, I have joined many others in speculating on what effects the information revolution will have. Already, its impact has been tremendous. Its effects include: The elimination of a huge number of jobs lost in both service and production industries; Social media has completely transformed the manner in which we interact/communicate; Online shopping is growing rapidly, and Digital communication has resulted in an acceleration of technological discoveries. So what is coming? Since 2002, the McKinsey Global Institute (( MGI )) has been tracking changes […]

New Technologies, Automation And The Future

New Technologies, Automation And The Future

Summary

It is hard to grasp just how rapidly technological change is occurring.

In this piece, I use a recent McKinsey Global Institute study to map where we are now and where we are going.There is good and danger ahead. New Technologies, Automation and the Future Elliott R. Morss© All Rights Reserved Introduction In recent postings, I have joined many others in speculating on what effects the information revolution will have. Already, its impact has been tremendous. Its effects include: The elimination of a huge number of jobs lost in both service and production industries; Social media has completely transformed […]

Trade Deal Proponents Double Down in Defense of Harmful Policy

Trade Deal Proponents Double Down in Defense of Harmful Policy

While the automation of many industrial jobs has been blamed for the their loss, the real culprit could instead be international trade agreements that shipped manufacturing jobs overseas. (Photo: Phasmatisnox ; Edited: LW / TO)

With the official death of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the likely renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the proponents of these deals are doubling down in their defense of the current course of US trade policy. While there are serious arguments that can be made in defense of these policies, advocates are instead seeking to deny basic reality.

These trade policy proponents […]

Rise of the machines: Fear robots, not China or Mexico

Shares

President Trump portrays Mexico, China and global trade as the biggest threats to American manufacturing jobs.

“It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost,” Trump tweeted on January 26.His predecessor also offered a warning to American workers, of a different kind.“The next wave of economic dislocations won’t come from overseas. It will come from the relentless pace of automation that makes a lot of good middle class jobs obsolete,” President Obama said in his farewell address.Research supports Obama’s claim. Far more jobs are lost to robots and automation — […]