Tag: robot

Age of automation: need for upskilling

In the last two decades, automation has made giant strides in the manufacturing sector. From changing the factory shop floor to the nature of employment, it has been rapidly transforming the traditional processes of manufacturing.

Today, as the fourth Industrial Revolution dawns upon us, advancements in the field of AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning and robotics have given rise to machines that are capable of a wide array of work activities. In fact, these machines can outperform humans not only in manual labour, but also in tasks that require cognitive abilities.

Needless to say, the manufacturing sector has benefited immensely following […]

Meet Stan: the robot valet that parks your car at the airport

Meet Stan: the robot valet that parks your car at the airport

Stan’s creators claim it can create as many as 50% more spaces by parking cars close together. If you have flown frequently, the challenge of airport parking has almost certainly added unwelcome stress and hassle to your journey.

To begin with, it’s usually costly. Then there is the debate you might have with yourself about which car park to use; the more expensive on-site car parks or the slightly cheaper ones that are farther away, requiring the use of a shuttle bus? And then there’s the headache of collecting your car upon your return, assuming you can remember where you […]

Automation could destroy millions of jobs in Australia

Automation could destroy millions of jobs in Australia

Up to 46 per cent of industries in Australia will be affected by automation, a new report reveals. Photo: Getty

Millions of jobs could be lost in the next decade as a result of automated technologies, such as machine learning and robotics, a new report warns.

A report by consultancy firm McKinsey Australia released on Monday, revealed an estimated 3.5 million to 6.5 million full-time jobs would be lost to automation by 2030.“Without increased employment-transition support, increased job churn could see Australia’s unemployment rate temporarily spike by up to 2.5 per cent during the peak of the transition,” the […]

John Oliver Gives Kids a Tough Lesson on A.I. and Robot Job Losses

John Oliver Gives Kids a Tough Lesson on A.I. and Robot Job Losses

Robot automation is transforming society, but John Oliver is worried that kids aren’t prepared. The Last Week Tonight host used Sunday’s episode to highlight the large-scale shift as super-smart A.I. take over human roles, something that many kids — and president Donald Trump — don’t truly appreciate.

Oliver criticized the president’s focus on manufacturing jobs outsourced to other countries. While Oliver conceded that some of these jobs are moving overseas, he also cited industry figures that show American manufacturing produces twice as much as it did in 1984, but with a third of the jobs.

“Many of those jobs aren’t being […]

Why the future of work and human resources is driven by data

Why the future of work and human resources is driven by data

Sensing a massive shift in the nature of work and employment, NASA started a study to gain some insights on how the future of work would be. Source: Shutterstock LET’S face it. The world is changing and along with it, human capital, job functions and most importantly, the nature of work itself.

This rapid paradigm shift fueled in part by digital transformation is presenting never before seen challenges to employers to recruit and retain the best available talents as well get the most out of their workforce to serve their business goals better. THREE TECH TRENDS EVERY HR PROFESSIONAL MUST […]

Understanding India’s labour pain

Understanding India’s labour pain

Title: Jobonomics Author: Goutam Das Publisher: Hachette India Price: Rs 599 The book, peppered with anecdotes, says that the jobs situation is more in the nature of an emerging crisis

Because the book begins with a line from Prime Minister Modi’s speech on employment, I thought it was essentially another Modi-basher, perhaps one that bemoaned how poorly the government fared in creating jobs. There are many such books floating around and I overcame the ‘oh, no, not one more’ feeling only because I had committed to sending in this review.

Just a few pages into the book I realised […]

Cover Story: The business of retail is changing as robots run warehouses and stores

Cover Story: The business of retail is changing as robots run warehouses and stores

Around the globe, retail and technology giants are investing heavily in unmanned stores and automated warehouses, fuelling a wave of industry transformation that could potentially drive dramatic changes down under.

The level of automation across Australian retailers lags behind the rest of the world. But with big players like Woolies and Coles investing hundreds of millions of dollars on automating their supply chain operations and international giants like Amazon ramping up their presence in Australia, the broader retail industry will be forced to make big bets on machines that can perform the work of humans.

For retailers, automation holds the promise […]

‘Numerous jobs and professions will change’: up to six million could be lost from automation

'Numerous jobs and professions will change': up to six million could be lost from automation

Unemployment could spike by up to 2.5 per cent as a result of the expected automation of up to 46 per cent of jobs in Australia by 2030, a new report has warned.

McKinsey Australia says that left to its own devices, automation could see Australia’s unemployment rate rise without retraining for people whose jobs are lost.

"Without retraining for vulnerable workers, especially administrative and manual workers and those in vulnerable regions, income inequality could widen by up to 30 per cent," the report says.Demand would increase for workers in unpredictable and interactive roles including nursing, care giving and sales, but […]

Lovely, lousy and little in between: The new frontier of work

Lovely, lousy and little in between: The new frontier of work

Linda Nazareth is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Her book Work Is Not a Place: Our Lives and Our Organizations in the Post-Jobs Economy is now available.

When Canada first took a census back in 1871, “blacksmith” and “shoemaker” made the top-10 list of occupations. Unfortunately, if any of the guys who did those jobs then envisioned that their great-great-great grandchildren would be continuing the family business, their dreams would have been very much unfulfilled. Job opportunities for those occupations, as well as many others, have dried up over the years but thankfully have been replaced by […]

DIY Robotics: The New Era of Automation

DIY Robotics: The New Era of Automation

You’ve most likely been hearing much more about robots and robotics technology in the course of the last couple years. That is on the grounds that for the first time since the 1961 introduction of GM’s Unimate, viewed as the first industrial robot, the field is by and by changing world economies. Just this time the effect will be more extensive. A lot more extensive.

Today, robots are springing up in workplaces, emergency clinics, and schools, quite non-industrial environments, just as in warehouses and small assembling centers. To an ever-increasing extent, they are on our streets and flying overhead. Also, […]