Tag: manufactur

The Robots Are Coming. Welcome Them

Is it time to bow to our robot overlords? Last week analysts at Morgan Stanley , MS 0.16 % using data from an Oxford University study , predicted that nearly half of U.S. jobs will be replaced by robots over the next two decades. Ouch. Maybe we should build a wall.

Cars that drive themselves? Waiters you don’t need to pay (or tip)? Self-folding clothes? Are we headed toward a post-job future? Signs are certainly there. Abundant Robotics, a company spun from the same Stanford Research Institute that brought us the mouse and networked computing, has begun testing a robot […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Workers of the Future, Unite

Workers of the Future, Unite

A utomation will undoubtedly transform the workforce, the economy, and society as a whole. Robotics, sophisticated “AI” software, and other technologies will cause lasting and profound changes in the future. But that’s no reason to ignore the problems we’re facing right now.

In fact, the best way to ensure that we have a more equitable economy tomorrow is by fighting for one today. “Reality Check”

Two recent commentaries addressed the “robot question.” One, by Don Lee, ran in the Los Angeles Times under the headline “ Reality check: Manufacturers returning to U.S. may mean jobs for robots, not people […]

Workers of the Future, Unite

Workers of the Future, Unite

Issei Kato / Reuters Automation will undoubtedly transform the workforce, the economy, and society as a whole. Robotics, sophisticated “AI” software, and other technologies will cause lasting and profound changes in the future. But that’s no reason to ignore the problems we’re facing right now.

In fact, the best way to ensure that we have a more equitable economy tomorrow is by fighting for one today.

“Reality check” Two recent commentaries addressed the “robot question.” One, by Don Lee, ran in the Los Angeles Times under the headline “ Reality check: Manufacturers returning to US may mean jobs for robots, […]

Trump Supporters Are Not the Losers from Globalization

Trump Supporters Are Not the Losers from Globalization

A common narrative we hear from the news media this election cycle is that Donald Trump has become popular by tapping into anti-trade sentiment among blue collar workers “ on the losing side of trade globalization .” The basic premises of this narrative are that (1) trade has harmed a large segment of the U.S. population and (2) those people are voting for Trump. But neither one of those premises is true.

The narrative has been fueled by a paper released earlier this year by economist David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson titled “The China Shock: Learning from Labor […]

The evolution of BPO industry

The evolution of BPO industry

Manila Bulletin Business reporter James Loyola, George Yang, and Dianne Gonzalez, A.I. Pros partner. About 20 to 22 million Filipinos depend in the call center and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries. This includes the 5:1 ratio, where one worker needs to support four to five other people in their lives. A total about 4.4 million Filipinos, in Philippines, are employed under the BPO sector, bringing in millions of US dollars into the country.

George Yang, founder and CEO of A.I. Pros, sees the Philippines’ growth is because of the BPO sector. “If you look at the growth of the Philippines […]