Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Garment factories to buy into automation

Investors in Cambodia’s garment industry are increasingly purchasing modern equipment as they look to produce higher value-added products to compete in the international market and counter rising labour costs, an industry insider said yesterday.

Ly Tek Heng, operation manager at the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said rising factory worker wages were thinning margins on the production of low-value garments and footwear in the face of fierce global competition.

“If we produce low-value products while the cost of labour keeps rising, we cannot compete,” said Heng. “So, big investors are going to use more modern equipment and machinery, which lets […]

Flipkart, Infosys, AskMe: Why recent spate of job cuts should worry us

Flipkart, Infosys, AskMe: Why recent spate of job cuts should worry us

New Delhi – In the last few days, newspapers have had screaming headlines of loss of thousands of jobs across the services sector.

On Monday , The Indian Express reported Infosys, the country’s second largest software exporter, has cut 500 jobs after the company recorded poor quarterly results were and lost a contract from RBS.

Over the weekend, reports said about 4,000 people were about to lose their jobs due to a suspension of operations at e-commerce website AskMe. Earlier Flipkart had asked about 700 underperformers to leave. Meanwhile, Snapdeal is shutting down a luxury fashion portal which could lead to […]

What are some jobs that can’t be automated/ replaced by robots and will have a good employment in the future?

What are some jobs that can't be automated/ replaced by robots and will have a good employment in the future?

Almost all trade jobs in the housing area and commercial real estate maintenance. Plumbers, electricians, masons, carpenters and almost all construction workers. Their pay is often equal to dentists and lawyers and other professionals and they are regarded as professionals themselves.

It will be a long time (my guess is more than 50 years) before any robot can move independently enough with the manual dexterity and visual judgement, materials and tools skills that these people have. The movement of robots and the AI needed is so primitive at this point, that it may be dozens of years before any kind […]

Despite fears, Mexico’s manufacturing boom is lifting U.S. workers

Despite fears, Mexico's manufacturing boom is lifting U.S. workers

Workers assemble the Forte sedan on the floor of a Kia plant in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, which began production in May. (Natalie Kitroeff / Los Angeles Times) Enrique Zarate, 19, had spent just a year in college when he landed an apprenticeship at a new BMW facility in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. If he performs well, in a year he’ll win a well-paid position, with benefits, working with robots at the company’s newest plant.

Within a decade or so, most of the BMW 3 series cars that Americans buy will probably come from Mexico, built by people like Zarate.

“When you […]

How trade impacts American jobs: Research roundup

How trade impacts American jobs: Research roundup

Container ship (Photo: Pixabay) Economic dogma asserts that free trade improves everyone’s wellbeing. For decades, both major American political parties have hailed free trade with other countries as critical to voters’ well being. But candidates in the 2016 presidential election have raised piercing questions about the benefits, with both major party nominees distancing themselves from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a pact with bilateral support that was seven-years-in-the-making. The Republican nominee is even proposing to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ), a signature policy of the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.

Rapidly increasing […]

What about the human casualties of AI & Automation?

What about the human casualties of AI & Automation?

Analysis: With Uber looking to replace one million drivers with its self-driving vehicles, will AI really lead to mass unemployment?

Artificial Intelligence – a technology which has continually broken promises. Until now, that is.

AI technology has always been the star striker of the technology field, hugely expensive and much hyped. However, AI has never scored the big goals promised by those working on the sidelines, with a Minority Report-esque world remaining in the realms of fiction.However, no one can ignore the renewed enthusiasm that AI is today courting – companies like Salesforce, Intel and Apple are rushing to acquire AI […]

3 Ways Tech Is Empowering Freelancers

3 Ways Tech Is Empowering Freelancers

By now we’ve all heard of the term ‘shared economy’. Or at least the companies that spearheaded this movement, such as Uber , Airbnb , RelayRides or TaskRabbit .

After the 2008 financial crisis, we’ve seen a decline in quality corporate jobs. And thus people are supplementing their income with ‘side jobs’. But this so-called side hustle has become commonplace . According to Freelancers Union , 53 million people in the US are 1099 employees.

I recently connected with Will Lee, an Artificial Intelligence expert who studied at Stanford. He created his company, Verlocal , with the mission to teach and […]

CMV: Automation will continue to increase productivity and minimize employment, but the U.S. will NEVER see anything like a basic income.

CMV: Automation will continue to increase productivity and minimize employment, but the U.S. will NEVER see anything like a basic income.

Hi /u/SajunBecker . I’m wrapping up my master’s degree this year and have taken a decent number of courses pertaining to labor economics and macroeconomic development. Thus, if you’d like any more detail than what I’m providing (going to try to keep things short, for everyone’s sake), please feel free to ask! 🙂

So, basically there’s a few things going on here. First, as a few others have already pointed out, we do technically have some forms of pseudo-basic income (social security, AFDC, Food Stamps, subsidized housing programs, etc. are all efforts to combat unemployment and poverty and thus efforts […]

Automation will continue to increase productivity and minimize employment, but the U.S. will NEVER see anything like a basic income.

Automation will continue to increase productivity and minimize employment, but the U.S. will NEVER see anything like a basic income.

Frankly, I think we’re going to be caught between the worst of both worlds between increasing automation and decreasing jobs.

I’d bet that by the 2040’s or 50’s, most Western countries like Canada, Denmark (and maybe the U.K.) will offer some kind of basic income that covers a basic cost of living, but it will never happen in the U.S.

Before anyone says it, no, we can’t just expect people to "go into STEM" and past a certain point, you can’t further specialize or "get more credentials." These people are just toast, and will be expected to "tough it out." Maybe […]

Automation in the workplace – friend or foe?

Fifty-six per cent of New Zealanders ‘definitely’ think their job will be impacted by artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in the next 10 years, according to recruiting experts Hays.

In the online poll of 497 people, a further 24 per cent said that ‘maybe’ their job will be impacted. The final 20 per cent do not believe their job will be impacted at all.

So is AI and automation your friend or foe? The answer, says Hays, depends on your willingness to adapt your skills."Rather than destroy jobs, automation and artificial intelligence can be expected to instead change roles, allowing workers […]