Tag: employment

Analysis: Pain in Michigan will reverberate from GM’s bigger move on electric

Analysis: Pain in Michigan will reverberate from GM's bigger move on electric

General Motors Co.’s announcement Monday signals a new era in American manufacturing — one that will be painful in the Midwest, and in Southeast Michigan in particular.

The American car is dead and GM, like Ford Motor Co., is betting its future on electric and autonomous vehicles. The consequences will be far-reaching even if the bets work out for the automakers.

On a conference call with reporters Monday, GM CEO Mary Barra said the automaker will continue to invest in the trucks and sport utility vehicles and crossovers that dominate the U.S. market but it has "the opportunity to take down […]

Thinking big about artificial intelligence

Thinking big about artificial intelligence

Left to right: Moderator Howard Ramos and panelists Teresa Heffernan, Fuyuki Kurasawa, Ian Kerr, and Duncan Macintosh pictured on stage in Paul O’Regan Hall. (Nick Pearce photos) While science fiction and popular culture might have you believe that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) will inevitably result in the world being run by robots, experts at a Dalhousie, Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Halifax Libraries sponsored panel event this month explained just how crucial humans still are to the field.

The 2018 Big Thinking Panel brought experts from universities across the country to the Halifax Central Library for […]

3 ways robots can support human workers

3 ways robots can support human workers

The enterprise is beginning to embrace the use of robotics in automating daily processes, especially in the manufacturing and industrial industries. The increase in automation in these sectors alone is so significant that it will boost the global robotics market to nearly $150 billion USD by 2025, according to a recent study by Transparency Market Research.

One continent in particular is spearheading business automation: North America . This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, as US tech giants like Alphabet and Amazon continue developing robotics and automated processes via artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. […]

Automation causes trade

Automation causes trade

David Levey pointed me to a Samuel Hammond review of a book by Oren Cass , who is a conservative critic of neoliberalism: Accelerating productivity and automation aren’t to blame for working class woes, either. On the contrary, despite prophecies of robots rendering work obsolete, Cass marshals convincing data to show U.S. manufacturing productivity has essentially stagnated. More importantly, whether job destruction is from automation and globalization has very different implications. When a factory automates a process, output per worker rises and local labor demand may even increase. But when a worker is dislocated by trade, Cass notes, “the […]

Adair Turner: ‘Every politician’s wrong about productivity’

Adair Turner: 'Every politician’s wrong about productivity'

‘Sometimes a useful role in public debate is to throw something deliberately provocative into the pond!’ Adair Turner is being provocative again. Almost a decade ago now he scandalised bankers and traders (although not the general public) when he declared the work of financiers to be “socially useless”.

A few years ago he made himself almost equally unpopular in central banking circles by suggesting they should consider monetising debt to rebalance their economies. Between Debt and the Devil by Adair Turner, book review

And now Baron Turner of Ecchinswell’s latest thesis is that politicians, everyone from the Chancellor Philip […]

Reimagining the Future of Work: How to Ensure Equity in an Automated World5 min read

Reimagining the Future of Work: How to Ensure Equity in an Automated World5 min read

“Hey, boss—sorry to interrupt, but it’s time.”

Andy was so engrossed with the painting she was working on that it took her a moment to realize that the voice was talking to her. She leaned back and considered the canvas. It was an arid wasteland rendered in bright neon colors. Rusting hulks of automobiles littered what was once the Pacific Coast Highway. It was the background for Andy’s latest virtual reality project, an afro-cyberpunk reimagining of Octavia Butler’s Earthseed stories .

She live-streamed her painting sessions to her nearly 2 million followers. Working this way, she could build an audience for […]

The AI Survival Guide For Leaders

The AI Survival Guide For Leaders

Pexels Pexels Artificial intelligence’s takeover is not an impending possibility — it’s here. We use GPS without a thought, accept guidance from customer service bots, and our interests quickly turn into smartphone recommendations. From these experiences, I can’t help but connect the dots to the impact they will have on the passion I hold professionally dear: leadership.

These observations are just a subset of the impact of automation on leadership, and thus, this article will likely be the first of several that I will occasionally publish to share my reflections.

Real-Time Data On the surface, this is an already ubiquitous […]

Knapheide helping lead hunt for more welders

Knapheide helping lead hunt for more welders

Jeffery Noble Herald-Whig

QUINCY — First, the good news.

Knapheide Manufacturing Co., the longtime Quincy company that is a leading producer of truck bodies and truck beds. Business has been especially booming the past seven or eight years, once the country had worked itself through the most-recent recession that ended around 2010.And the bad news?The company cannot attract enough people to fill openings, particularly in some of the skilled trade positions. That’s especially true in welding."We could hire 40 welders today," said Jim Rubottom, vice president of human resources and a 29-year employee at Knapheide. "Young people are just not that […]

Automation Isn’t the End of Jobs

Automation Isn't the End of Jobs

Note: This video is one of several interviews that Morningstar director of personal finance Christine Benz had with Vanguard officials at this year’s Bogleheads event. See all of the interviews here .

Christine Benz: Hi, I’m Christine Benz for Morningstar.com. What will the increase in automation mean for the future of jobs in the economy? Joining me to discuss some recent research on that topic is Joe Davis. He is the global chief economist and global head of Vanguard Investment Strategy Group.

Joe, thank you so much for joining me. Joe Davis: Thank you, Christine. Benz: Joe, let’s talk […]

Pitting people against technology is not the answer to future recruitment and retention. Training is.

Pitting people against technology is not the answer to future recruitment and retention. Training is.

Echoing our blog post earlier this week, Helen Jamieson points to training and upskilling as the way to combat automation. Reading time: 4 minutes The last two years has seen a rapid and fundamental shift in the way we work. Movements such as #metoo, the boom in zero-hours contracts , and a new regard for mental health has seen much-welcomed debate about working culture.

It has, however also given rise to a worrying trend of navel gazing, as employers seek to respond to the latest headline issue, rather than take the time to assess the direction of their workforce as […]