Tag: productivity

Why does the Czech Republic have the lowest unemployment in the EU?

Why does the Czech Republic have the lowest unemployment in the EU?

Germany is Europe’s economic powerhouse, with a reputation for efficiency, order, and low unemployment. But since the end of 2015, the job market in the neighboring Czech Republic has been even stronger.

Data published this week showed that the Czech Republic’s unemployment rate was a mere 2.9% in June , compared with 3.8% in Germany and 7.7% in the European Union overall. So how does this former communist country do it? Unemployment rate

’09’10’11’12’13’14’15’16’1724681012%EU averageCzech RepublicGermany246810Data: Eurostat Firstly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, labour is cheap. The average hourly labor cost in the Czech Republic in 2016 was just €10.20 ($12.07), well […]

Driverless cars and trucks don’t mean mass unemployment—they mean new kinds of jobs

Driverless cars and trucks don’t mean mass unemployment—they mean new kinds of jobs

As business leaders who work with scores of senior leaders across the private and public sectors, the topic of automation and its implications for workers is inescapable—and often anxiety-inducing. Understandably so. Technology and social changes are poised to reshape nearly every aspect of what and how work gets done, and by whom. When we speak and write on this topic , the audience response is usually intense and ranges from excitement to deep anxiety.

Our response to these fears is two-fold.

First, the details matter—a lot. While every industry will likely be impacted, the nature of those impacts may vary considerably. […]

Study: Humans still needed in the workforce despite influx of automation

Study: Humans still needed in the workforce despite influx of automation

Automation is happening, and realizing automation’s full potential requires people and technology to work hand in hand, according to a new report produced by McKinsey Global Institute, New York.

Recent developments in robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning have put Americans on the cusp of a new automation age. Robots and computers can not only perform a range of routine physical work activities better and cheaper than humans, but they are also increasingly capable of accomplishing activities that include cognitive capabilities once considered too difficult to automate, such as making tacit judgments, sensing emotion or even driving. Automation will change […]

The future of work in the era of artificial intelligence

The future of work in the era of artificial intelligence

In this picture from March 2016, South Korean professional Go player, Lee Sedol, takes on Google’s artificial intelligence programme AlphaGo.

Artificial intelligence is fast changing the world. The premise that intelligent machines will perform tasks more efficiently and at a lower cost than human beings is by no means far-fetched. The challenges facing the workers of the future are multiplying before our very eyes.

Some of the most vulnerable jobs in the transition to automation, robotics and artificial intelligence are related to transport, mechanical work in factories and customer service. But no sector, be it health, finance or even the military, […]

Time to rethink our perspective on jobs and technology

Time to rethink our perspective on jobs and technology

Is it only the export of jobs that has led to unemployment or are we entering a brave new world of technology steadily eroding once secure foundations of employment?

Technology and jobs, whither goest thou?

Whether in the Philippines or the United States, it is time to pause and assess the very real impact of technology’s advances on those who will lose their jobs today as the so-called “jobs of tomorrow” are created.Too often, “globalized” business leaders and macroeconomists blindly welcome every advance in productivity, while investors in turn reward news of resulting job reductions with an upward tick in share […]

Future Friday: Are you a Techno-Optimist or a Techno-Pessimist?

Future Friday: Are you a Techno-Optimist or a Techno-Pessimist?

Are you fearful that your job will be taken over by technology and you will find yourself in the unemployment line for the rest of your life? Or are you confident that due to your skill sets and your personal adaptability you will be able to work along technology and be a productive member of the working society? If you are the former, you are what is known as a techno-pessimist, the latter is a techno-optimist. I got these terms from an article and video from the McKinsey Global Institute called The digital future of work: What will automation […]

BRISTOL: Blame the robots for the job losses

BRISTOL: Blame the robots for the job losses

The teaser headline that flashed across the screen when I turned on my iPad said that engineers were close to a breakthrough — developing warehouse robots that can pick up a toy and put it in a box.

Really, a breakthrough?

More like a setback, I thought. Another advance of automation that will eliminate thousands of jobs.The Wall Street Journal reported that several companies are testing such robots in their distribution centers. Robotic “pickers” are 50 percent faster than humans, the paper said. No doubt the engineers will make robots more and more efficient.Thanks to the explosion of online ordering, warehouse […]

Jobs tech-threat weighs on workers’ minds

More and more companies are embracing the arrival of emerging technologies, but the enthusiasm has workers fearing redundancy. Around a quarter of Australians are worried about losing their jobs to "robots" as more and more companies turn to emerging technologies to enhance productivity.

Research conducted by analyst firm Telsyte looked at the adoption of transformative technologies – including artificial intelligence (AI), automation, voice commands and virtual reality – by Australian organisations.

It found nearly two-thirds of businesses are already dabbling with machine learning or deep learning to improve operations or influence business decision making.But Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said there […]

Why Elon Musk Is Wrong About AI

Why Elon Musk Is Wrong About AI

There’s a growing debate about the impact that artificial intelligence will have on the future, with two tech luminaries themselves—Tesla (tsla, -4.02%) CEO Elon Musk and Facebook (fb, +2.92%) CEO Mark Zuckerberg—as figureheads representing glass-half-empty vs. half-full perspectives, respectively. Last week, Musk commented that AI is an “ existential risk for human civilization .” Zuckerberg retorted that comments like this are “pretty irresponsible,” to which Musk tweeted a retort that Zuckerberg’s “understanding of the subject is limited.” While these comments refer to sweeping impacts, many are debating one specific area where we are already seeing the effects of AI: […]

Predictions for what robots will do to the US workforce, ranked from certain doom to potential utopia

Predictions for what robots will do to the US workforce, ranked from certain doom to potential utopia

Do you believe AI and robots taking over jobs is, as Elon Musk recently put it , the “biggest risk that we face as a civilization?” Or mostly overblown fear-mongering? Somewhere in between?

There’s probably a research-backed prediction that supports your view. We’ve ranked them here, in order from “certain doom” to “possible utopia,” for your convenience. 1) 47% of total US employment is at “high risk” of automation within the next 10 or 20 years

Doom rating: Share Embed Link How they got there: Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, researchers at Oxford University, asked machine-learning experts to […]