Tag: conservative

Before the holiday season, workers at America’s busiest ports are fighting the robots

Before the holiday season, workers at America's busiest ports are fighting the robots

Automation has become a hot-button issue at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The shipping industry is pushing for more automation of the work loading and unloading ships. But dockworkers warn robots will only kill American jobs. It’s a never-ending line of massive ships stacked high with colorful containers that come and go from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach these days.

This busy scene is not unexpected as the volume of goods coming across the Pacific Ocean has hit new records during the pandemic.

The shipping industry says it must automate more of the work loading […]

While we fight the bear, the red dragon grows ever stronger

While we fight the bear, the red dragon grows ever stronger

BEFORE I viewed an old car recently, the salesman played a typical trick. On the phone he mentioned a fault in need of repair, thereby establishing himself as an honest actor. What he didn’t mention, of course, were the myriad other failings the rust bucket had. Only after I had driven an hour to see it did I find out that iron oxide had taken a firm hold.

Something similar is going on in the world today. Everyone is talking about how we need to reduce our reliance on Russian energy, and how anything remotely Russian is suspect. Even our […]

Progressive Education, Controversy Nothing New to Richland Schools (OpEd)

Progressive Education, Controversy Nothing New to Richland Schools (OpEd)

The recall effort being mounted against 3 Richland School Board members is not that unusual if you consider some of the more ‘interesting’ events in RSD history. RSD has seen more liberal, progressive education than the rest of Tri-Cities

I am a Tri-City native, my parents moved here from Bellevue, WA in August 1966 when I was 3 years old. I went through the RSD and while I did get a solid education, the time was not without controversy. Progressive Education SPI elected.

In 1972 my dad worked as a local campaign officer for OSPI Candidate James S. Moore, […]

Workplace digitalization has increased support for the Conservatives and for the incumbent government

Workplace digitalization has increased support for the Conservatives and for the incumbent government

While there are few signs that workplace digitalisation leads to mass unemployment, Nikolas Schöll finds that it contributes to growing income inequalities between low and highly educated workers. These diverging economic trajectories are also mirrored in party support: winners of digitalization become more supportive of the incumbent government and the Conservative Party, whereas losers of digitalization become tentatively more supportive of UKIP.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed workplace digitalization as few events did before: almost half the UK workforce reports to have worked from home during lockdowns, twice the number of pre-pandemic times. This has boosted the adoption of […]

What type of jobs are at risk from automation?

What type of jobs are at risk from automation?

One in three (37%) employees consider their current job to be at risk from automation and digital transformation.

Automation and digital transformation concerns advances in smart technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and robotics.

Around a third of women (33%) and over two-fifths (43%) of men consider it likely or very likely that automation could replace their jobs. While over half (54%) of those aged 18-to-24-years-old, compared to around a quarter (27%) of over-45s, believe that their job might not exist one day.This is according to HR software provider CIPHR, who has compiled a list of the occupations that are […]

A third of workers think their jobs are at risk from automation

A third of workers think their jobs are at risk from automation

New research has found that one in three (37%) employees consider their current job to be at risk from automation and digital transformation.

HR software provider CIPHR has compiled a list of the occupations that are the most and least likely to be replaced by technology or machines, based on the results of a survey of more than 1,000 UK workers: www.ciphr.com/jobs-at-risk-from-automation . Survey respondents were asked to rate the likelihood that their own occupation could become automated in the future, due to advances in smart technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and robotics.

Around a third of women (33%) […]

Automatic or the people? The rapidly changing nature of work

Automatic or the people? The rapidly changing nature of work

Processes like car manufacturing are already automated and becoming more so all the time. The practice is safer and more efficient, but requires fewer workers. The author asks: “What is our responsibility to places devastated by deindustrialization and automation?” Photo of a Ford plant, by Getty Images. Automation is already here: What is our responsibility to the people and communities left behind?

Somewhere on Minnesota’s Iron Range a railroad engineer noses an 85-car train under the load-out chute at a taconite plant. One by one, each car fills with almost 100 tons of iron ore. The contents of this […]

Automatic or the people | Essay

Automatic or the people | Essay

Commentary

Automation is already here: What is our responsibility to the people and communities left behind?

Processes like car manufacturing are already automated and becoming more so all the time. The practice is safer and more efficient, but requires fewer workers. The author asks: “What is our responsibility to places devastated by deindustrialization and automation?” Photo of a Ford plant, by Getty Images. Somewhere on the Iron Range a railroad engineer noses an 85-car train under the load-out chute at a taconite plant. One by one, each car fills with almost 100 tons of iron ore. The contents of […]

If the UK is to escape cheap labour using automation, it’ll need more than just Ocado robots

If the UK is to escape cheap labour using automation, it’ll need more than just Ocado robots

According to research from analytics firm GlobalData, the robotics industry was worth $45.3bn in 2020. Researchers forecast a compound annual growth rate of 29% and expansion to $568bn in the year 2030. But where does UK automation fit into this picture? And how important to it is grocery tech company Ocado, rated by GlobalData as the leading British brand for robotics in a recent report on robotics?

One piece of data behind the robotics boom is declining fertility rates, which is definitely a relevant issue for the UK. Data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) shows the top 20 […]

John Hagney: Sinking wages are threatening democratic capitalism

John Hagney: Sinking wages are threatening democratic capitalism

By John Hagney

It would be a hardship for half of all Americans to afford a $400 emergency expense. – 2019 Federal Reserve Study

During two decades following World War II, moderation in American politics was predicated on a muscular middle class. The 1970-2020 dissipation of this “vital center” is reflected in continuing economic insecurity that oppresses most Americans, especially among those without college educations representing two-thirds of workers, and the present polarized political landscape.Beginning with the 1970s oil crises, the industrial heartland rusted, caused initially by increased demand for fuel-efficient Japanese automobiles. Prior to this, about 16% of American […]