Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Rise of the robots

We need urgent and concerted intervention if we are to shape emerging technology to prevent it determining our future in an inimical way, writes JOHN GREEN

WHILE Marx and Engels predicted that the proletariat would be the gravediggers of capitalism, the left-wing German economist Wolfgang Streek says that today capitalism has become its own gravedigger.

He quotes Gramsci: “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”And, boy, are we experiencing the morbid symptoms.The most recent technological changes that are shaking our […]

Amazon Go Doesn’t Have To Be The End Of The American Dream

Amazon Go Doesn't Have To Be The End Of The American Dream

A pedestrian passes in front of the new Amazon Go grocery store in Seattle, Washington, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. Amazon.com unveiled technology that will let shoppers grab groceries without having to scan and pay for them — in one stroke eliminating the checkout line. Photographer: David Ryder/Bloomberg

Two weeks ago today, online retailer Amazon announced Amazon Go , a brick-and-mortar grocery store concept without checkout lines. Shoppers simply scan their smartphones when they enter the store, and the company’s detection technology tracks items that have been removed from the shelves, charging a customer’s Amazon.com account when they leave.

It’s the […]

Industry 4.0 and Industrial Robots: Are our jobs at risk?

By Molly Connell, Online Marketing, TradeMachines

Industry 4.0 is here and it is making changes. The trend of data exchange and automation in factories is expanding rapidly and it’s presence is proven by countless numbers. For example, while in 2002 69.000 robot units were sold, in 2016 this number increased significantly and was 290.000. By now there are approximately 1.8 million robots in operation .

While installing robots has been an option for manufacturers for quite a while now, the fact that they have become more affordable and suitable for more types of tasks, triggered the boost of robots sales. […]

Michael Hicks: Manufacturing’s future production and jobs

Michael Hicks: Manufacturing's future production and jobs

One benefit of the political debate about trade is that it led to an overdue discussion of manufacturing. But after more than a year of politicking, I’m afraid there’s still a great deal of confusion about the industry and its future. To help clear things up I’ll begin with a parlor trick. Pick the year you think manufacturing production peaked in the U.S. or Indiana. Some of you will say, 1928, 1945, 1975, and sometimes even 1999. The correct answer, of course, is 2015. Yes, inflation-adjusted manufacturing production peaked both in the U.S. and Indiana in 2015, replacing 2014 […]

Could Automation Actually Create More Jobs Than It Destroys?

Could Automation Actually Create More Jobs Than It Destroys?

The short answer is yes, by creating more demand through growth in those fields where automation enhances human capabilities, not just replaces them. But with the added proviso, ‘eventually.’
The question is whether society is willing to invest in programs that ease the transition and thus improve the short term economics. JL

The Economist reports : Rather than destroying jobs, automation redefines them in ways that boost demand. Employment grew faster in occupations ( graphic design) that made more use of computers: as automation sped up a job, workers do the other parts better. More computer-intensive jobs displaced less […]

U.S. Factories Are Working Again; Factory Workers, Not So Much

U.S. Factories Are Working Again; Factory Workers, Not So Much

Manufacturing output in the U.S. is nearing prerecession levels, but about 1.5 million factory jobs—roughly… Factories were humming back to life even before a pledge to revitalize American manufacturing helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency.

But jobs aren’t returning in kind, a reality that will make it tough for Mr. Trump—or anyone—to significantly boost employment in the industrial heartland, as he has pledged to do. Technology and automation have given manufacturing companies the means to function, and even thrive, with fewer employees than ever before.

Manufacturing output is nearing prerecession levels. But about 1.5 million factory jobs—about 20% of positions […]

The skills delusion

Everybody agrees that better education and improved skills, for as many people as possible, are crucial to increasing productivity and living standards, and to tackling rising inequality.

But what if everybody is wrong?

Most economists are certain that human capital is as important to productivity growth as physical capital.And to some degree, that is obviously true.Modern economies would not be possible without widespread literacy and numeracy: many emerging economies are held back by inadequate skills.But one striking feature of the modern economy is how few skilled people are needed to drive crucial areas of economic activity.Facebook has a market value of […]

Future of Manufacturing Production and Jobs

Future of Manufacturing Production and Jobs

(Photo: Provided by Ball State University) One benefit of the political debate about trade is that it led to an overdue discussion of manufacturing. But after more than a year of politicking, I’m afraid there’s still a great deal of confusion about the industry and its future. To help clear things up I’ll begin with a parlor trick. Pick the year you think manufacturing production peaked in the U.S. or Indiana. Some of you will say; 1928, 1945, 1975 and sometimes even 1999. The correct answer, of course, is 2015. Yes, inflation-adjusted manufacturing production peaked both in the U.S. […]

Southern rail dispute reflects workers’ growing fears about rise of automation

Southern rail dispute reflects workers’ growing fears about rise of automation

Trains with a guard become driver-only trains, which then become driverless trains. That’s the fear underlying Aslef’s dispute with Southern railways and accounts for the rearguard action to prevent further job losses across the rail industry.

It’s not the only reason for the dispute. There is also scorn for Southern’s management, which has attacked drivers’ basic terms and conditions, and there is anger at transport secretary Chris Grayling’s anti-union stance. But, at its heart, the dispute is over the status and even the very existence of the job of train driver, which has been around for nigh on 200 years.

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Automation Won’t Create New Jobs Like Technology Did In The Past

Automation Won't Create New Jobs Like Technology Did In The Past

(Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Westfield) “Increased productivity leads to more wealth, cheaper goods, greater spending power and ultimately, more jobs ,” said the Wall Street Journal in the latest entry in the counterpoint to articles declaring the end of work.

This essentially is the problem with calls to put aside worry about automation. They sit on an assumption that, somehow, something will come along to save the day, even though no one has the slightest idea of what it might be. Call it the Magical Job Savior, the inexorable and unstoppable unforeseen something that increases the number of jobs even as technology eliminates them but somehow enables the rescue.

Full Post at www.forbes.com