Tag: productivity

The rise of robot recruitment

The rise of robot recruitment

Human connection is more important than ever as the world battles COVID-19 SoftBank announces $41bn asset sale after COVID-19 struggles Applicant tracking systems, or ‘resume robots’, can instantly scan CVs for keywords and essential skills, eliminating candidates so that human recruiters don’t have to. This is changing the role of HR teams significantly Nobody likes applying for a new job. As much as you may despise your current role, the process of tidying up your CV and crafting an eloquent cover letter that simultaneously portrays you as an independent thinker and the world’s best team player is tedious work. […]

Why Our Economy May Be Headed for a Decade of Depression

Why Our Economy May Be Headed for a Decade of Depression

The worst is yet to come? Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images In September 2006, Nouriel Roubini told the International Monetary Fund what it didn’t want to hear. Standing before an audience of economists at the organization’s headquarters, the New York University professor warned that the U.S. housing market would soon collapse — and, quite possibly, bring the global financial system down with it. Real-estate values had been propped up by unsustainably shady lending practices, Roubini explained. Once those prices came back to earth, millions of underwater homeowners would default on their mortgages, trillions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities would […]

Labour productivity per employment records drop in Q12020

Labour productivity per employment records drop in Q12020

The Department of Statistics has revealed that the labour productivity per employment has dropped. –BERNAMA pic KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Statistics has revealed that the labour productivity per employment has dropped to 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

Statistician chief Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the national labour productivity declined to 0.8 per cent from 1.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year with value added per employment was at RM22,578 per person in the first quarter of 2020 compared to RM24,263 last year.

"Despite slower economic performance at 0.7 per cent, […]

Commentary: Pandemic makes a universal basic income look better

Universal basic income was a popular topic in the U.S. before COVID-19 — in a theoretical sense. Now a pandemic is providing a tragic preview of some of the conditions UBI was conceived to address. And, though there are some important qualifications, COVID-19 is making UBI look better.

Up until a few months ago, the argument for UBI was that the rate of automation and productivity growth would be increasing faster than the rate of job creation. Artificial intelligence is often cited as a harbinger of mass layoffs. Those concerns are largely overblown, but — so the thinking went — […]

US researchers find that every robot replaces 3.3 jobs

US researchers find that every robot replaces 3.3 jobs

American researchers have calculated that every new industrial robot installed in the US between 1993 and 2007 replaced 3.3 jobs. But in a separate analysis of French industry from 2010 to 2015, they have also found that firms that adopt robots quickly became more productive and hire more workers, while their competitors fall behind and shed workers – with jobs again being reduced overall.

The results have been published in a series of three papers written by Professor Daron Acemoglu, an economist at MIT, with several co-authors. In one of the papers , Acemoglu and Dr Pascual Restrepo, an assistant […]

When machines think for us: consequences for work and place

When machines think for us: consequences for work and place

The one sure way not to forecast the impact of artificial-intelligence technologies is technological determinism. Judith Clifton Will artificial intelligence affect how and where we work? To what extent is AI already fundamentally reshaping our relationship to work? Over the last decade, there has been a boom in academic papers, consultancy reports and news articles about these possible effects of AI—creating both utopian and dystopian visions of the future workplace. Despite this proliferation, AI remains an enigma, a newly emerging technology, and its rate of adoption and implications for the structure of work are still only beginning to be […]

Hard Truths: Will Museums’ Digital Plans Make Curators Obsolete?

Hard Truths: Will Museums’ Digital Plans Make Curators Obsolete?

Illustration by Mario Wagner. The museum where I work as a curator of prints and drawings instructed staff to work from home during the coronavirus lockdown. In a recent Zoom conference call, our director revealed that revenue had dropped to such an extent during our closure that the entire institution may be in peril. He said that we need to recalibrate (he’s right), but then he went on about the immediate need for blockbuster shows and Instagrammable experiences to drive up future ticket sales. Our superb collection of works on paper is focused on prewar America, and while I […]

Robots Might Actually Take Over The World Post Coronavirus

Robots Might Actually Take Over The World Post Coronavirus

Although many firms might not survive to see the light of day post coronavirus, there’s still hope as we might be stepping into a new era of automation. As per experts, millions are jobless and intelligent automation has managed to fill those voids. However, it’s still debatable whether AI has taken over those jobs for good. It’s a known fact that automation across industries was on the horizon, now it might just happen before expected.

The ongoing situation has already showcased the need for a digital overhaul across several sectors and how firms should make use of this time to […]

Study finds stronger links between automation and inequality

Study finds stronger links between automation and inequality

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Modern technology affects different workers in different ways. In some white-collar jobs—designer, engineer—people become more productive with sophisticated software at their side. In other cases, forms of automation, from robots to phone-answering systems, have simply replaced factory workers, receptionists, and many other kinds of employees.

Now a new study co-authored by an MIT economist suggests automation has a bigger impact on the labor market and income inequality than previous research would indicate—and identifies the year 1987 as a key inflection point in this process, the moment when jobs lost to automation stopped being replaced by an […]

Expect more technically skilled jobs and more automation in the post-COVID-19 economy

Expect more technically skilled jobs and more automation in the post-COVID-19 economy

Lawtonians Supporting the Mission

The pandemic created by COVID-19 has in many unexpected or unprepared ways significantly slowed or halted economic activity locally, nationally and globally. Small businesses, factories, industries and warehouses have been forced to shut down to protect their workers, while those that are essential struggle with preventing further outbreaks through distancing, mitigation and innovation.

Could a more technically skilled and automated workforce have reduced or alleviated the economic damage caused by COVID-19 and the possible measures undertaken to address its effect on today’s workforce? Studies have been conducted and reports released with supporting data on the […]