Tag: productivity

Is a Robot After Your Job?

Is a Robot After Your Job?

With the economy the way it is, most manufacturing workers are afraid that their company will move out of the country, or that someone who will work for less will get their job. Now, there is another fear—is a robot after your job? In some factories, robots already outnumber the human workers. The general factory workforce is going through radical changes with more robots being employed at a vigorous pace. How will this affect your job? An Oxford study reports that 47% of all jobs will be taken over by a robot within the next twenty years.

Robotic technology is […]

Technology is not here to take our jobs

Technology is not here to take our jobs

Illustration: Jayachandran/Mint Jack Ma knows a thing or two about technological innovation and disruption. The founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group has built it into the world’s fifth-largest Internet company by revenue. In a letter to shareholders earlier this month, he had this to say: “Throughout history, technological disruptions have followed similar trajectories: 20 years of technological disruption followed by 30 years of further rapid change as new technologies are applied throughout society. The Internet revolution is a historical inflection point, much like when electricity was introduced, and it may have an even greater impact.”

This is in keeping […]

The fetishisation of work is making us miserable. Let’s learn to live again

The fetishisation of work is making us miserable. Let’s learn to live again

‘Employees say their bosses want them to put job before family and many are expected to be on call around the clock. More than one in four say they work longer hours than they want to.’ Photograph: Alamy Mounting pressures at work are taking a heavy toll on life at home . Employees say their bosses want them to put job before family, and many are expected to be on call around the clock. More than one in four say they work longer hours than they want to, we learn from the latest YouGov poll .

It’s not a pretty […]

Another warning. The world is about to run low on JOBS as automation takes over

Another warning. The world is about to run low on JOBS as automation takes over

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More data and more warnings . The fourth industrial revolution has started. It will be jobless and many people will lose their employment, or be forced to compete for their jobs. The result is, you will probably be unemployed, or accept low wages to survive. What will we do in a world without work? LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) – Just a few years ago, forecasters issued a dire warning. The world’s workers are in danger of running out of work. As the fourth […]

Opinion: Workers will simply try to survive, rather than prosper, as tech takes over the economy

Opinion: Workers will simply try to survive, rather than prosper, as tech takes over the economy

For most people, a secure, well-paid job is the difference between a reasonable life and penury. Today, changes in the structure of the work force driven by globalization and technology make this objective increasingly elusive.

Technology has exacerbated declines in employment and incomes by eliminating tasks and “de-skilling” many jobs.

Robotics and complex computerized equipment has successfully replaced skilled labor. Computer software is now replacing journalists, synthesizing news items electronically by crawling the internet. Even traders in financial markets are being replaced by automated algorithms.In the late-20th century, global supply chains allowed lower-paid workers to displace expensive counterparts in more developed […]

Robotics technology for picking farm produce

Robotics technology for picking farm produce

Farm workers in India. Picture by Vinoth Chandar By Nandini Kranti

The use of robotics technology in industrial systems is quite common, but in the agricultural sector, robotics and automation technology still retains a novelty and fascination, and is still to make a widespread impact on labor-intensive tasks.

The discussion on man versus machine has come too far. Artificial intelligence was the key addition that tipped scales in favor of the latter. Precise and iterative line functions in industrial processes are handled by well-programmed robots.Material handling is seldom an issue in this setup since a great deal of […]

Robots Could Push ‘Fight For 15’ Backers Out Of Work

Robots Could Push 'Fight For 15' Backers Out Of Work

(Chelsea Cody) Someday C-3PO and R2-D2 could be taking your fast-food restaurant order and cooking your burger and fries instead of saving the galaxy in "Star Wars."

Before you say, "I have a bad feeling about this," consider the current business and technology trends.

The political push to raise the minimum wage nationwide to $15 an hour has motivated many restaurants and other businesses with low-skilled workers to think about replacing some human staff with automation and robots.At the same time, such technology is improving by leaps and bounds and costs are coming down. IBD’S TAKE: There always are some good […]

Technology & Automation: Only Humans Need Apply

Technology & Automation: Only Humans Need Apply

Most experts nowadays fear technology. The rapid automation happening in the industrial sector has become a cause for concern for many policy planners because of the huge unemployment that automation creates when it displaces the workers. As a technologist, I certainly want technology to continue progressing. Productive use of technology happens when machines are used to ease the lives of human beings by means of automation. The role of technological progress should be to ease the lives of human beings through automation of strenuous and repetitive operations. However, as a macroeconomist, I am equally concerned about ensuring full-employment in […]

Should we really be concerned with automation overtaking human jobs?

Should we really be concerned with automation overtaking human jobs?

The Henn-na hotel opened its doors to the public last year, and is yet to pay its receptionist staff a single penny in salary. How have they gotten away with this? Well, as it turns out, velociraptors dressed in bow ties and bellhop hats will work for you for free. More accurately, though, it’s because 90 percent of the hotel staff are robots.

As automation technology continues to proliferate almost all areas of work, concerns have begun to surface over the security of human jobs. The Henn-na hotel is a prime example of this — rooms cost just £36 per […]

Don’t blame the robots! An interview on manufacturing, automation, and globalization with Susan Houseman.

Don’t blame the robots! An interview on manufacturing, automation, and globalization with Susan Houseman.

(iStock)

Susan Houseman is a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute in Michigan. I’ve followed her work on employment trends, especially in manufacturing, for years, and wanted to share some of her recent findings that struck me as particularly germane at this point in time. Susan Houseman JB: This election has clearly elevated the view that our manufacturing sector, and the families and communities that have historically depended on it, has been hurt by trade. A countervailing view says it’s not trade, it’s automation that’s responsible for large-scale job losses. You’ve recently updated your very important work on this question. […]