Tag: Technology

Celebrating labor

Celebrating labor

Labor Day was established as a national holiday 125 years ago, championed by labor unions. Despite unions’ recent decline, we should still celebrate work. The market for labor is an important element of the liberal society, and peoples’ willingness to work for a living makes our economy function.

The decline of unions in America has been remarkable. Over 30% of workers were unionized in the 1950s, versus 10% in 2018. The private sector unionization rate is only 6.4% – about one out of 16 workers. A number of factors explain this change, like the decline in manufacturing employment; America still […]

Banks seek more investments in FinTech, human capital

Banks seek more investments in FinTech, human capital

Commercial banks have been advised to make more investments in financial technology (FinTech) and the relevant specialised human capital for the growth of the financial system.

Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), President, Uche Olowu who gave the advice at the institute’s investiture in Lagos, said investment in specialised human capital is, particularly, significant given the domination of technological solutions, which are taking over human jobs.

According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, 60 per cent of all occupations have at least 30 per cent of activities that are technically automated. Furthermore, the report states that roughly one-fifth […]

The dark side of progress: We’re ignoring the most potent threat to working-class Americans

The dark side of progress: We're ignoring the most potent threat to working-class Americans

The dark side of progress: We’re ignoring the most potent threat to working-class Americans During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised working-class white Americans in the smokestack cities and towns of the industrial Midwest that he would bring back millions of manufacturing jobs by reducing immigration, clamping down on globalization, and ending “terrible” trade agreements and currency manipulation.

He has not delivered on his promises.

In 2017 and 2018, to be sure, the United States did add 465,000 factory jobs , an impressive, though unspectacular, number. But the vast majority of them are located in California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, and Oklahoma […]

I don’t know what to do with my life

I don’t know what to do with my life

Every year, thousands of school leavers (and their families) will make two important decisions that will significantly impact their life and future.

What course should I take after leaving school?

What job should I do upon graduation? It’s ok for people to be clueless about their future. School leavers are asked to select a college or university major or course that could impact their entire life and future at a time when they barely know who they are or where they’re going. Even adults struggle with these issues!In an environment where employers are demanding more flexibility, adaptability, short-term […]

Emerging Technology And The Future Of Employment

Emerging Technology And The Future Of Employment

Giving Compass’ Take:

· Writing for The Brookings Institution, Jack Karsten addresses the rise of automation and explains how emerging technology can either replace workers are train them for different positions.

· How will employment opportunities change as automation infiltrates the workforce? How can technology be used to create more job opportunities? · Read more on this topic and the future of work with emerging technology . In 2012, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreesen predicted that jobs will be divided between “people who tell computers what to do, and people who are told by computers […]

Progressives’ initiatives hurt private-sector workers | Opinion

Progressives’ initiatives hurt private-sector workers | Opinion

Skip to main content A Labor Day visit to the American Labor Museum in Haledon Jim Beckerman, Staff Writer, @jimbeckerman1

Labor Day, this year, finds the American worker in a pretty good place. Jobs are plentiful, unemployment is down and business is competing for talent. Aside from politically inspired recession fears, the U.S. economy is strong and will get stronger when international trade deals are completed and approved by Congress.

None of this suggests, however, that there are not serious concerns about the future of work in America and that labor, business and government need to prepare for them now. The […]

Big Story: In the Quad-Cities, the future of work has arrived. Are you ready?

Big Story: In the Quad-Cities, the future of work has arrived. Are you ready?

Brice Wagner, of Davenport, plays a game wearing a pair of VR goggles during class at the AVR Academy, an augmented and virtual reality lab. (Monday, August 26, 2019, at Scott Community College in Davenport) Stephon Morgan, of Davenport, plays a game wearing a pair of VR goggles during class at the AVR Academy, an augmented and virtual reality lab. (Monday, August 26, 2019, at Scott Community College in Davenport) In a windowless room in the heart of downtown Davenport, Robert Gillespie sees the future.

Strapped around his face is a virtual reality headset, a sort of crystal ball that […]

Vocational jobs could help weather job crunch, say industrialists

Vocational jobs could help weather job crunch, say industrialists

Tech Mahindra Amid reports of job losses in the auto and the FMCG sectors, a boost to vocational training in areas such as healthcare could be exactly what people might need when the country is going through a slowdown, say industrialists.

A senior industry executive pointed out that most of the jobs that were done by B.Sc or B.Com graduates such as invoice processing and payroll processing are now automated. “Everywhere they are cutting jobs because of automation. All the invoice processing, payrolls are done by bots,” the executive said.

L Ravichandran, COO, Tech Mahindra , pointed out that, “More and […]

Robots are not the inevitable future, if the workforce fights to stay relevant.

Robots are not the inevitable future, if the workforce fights to stay relevant.

Tim O’Reilly has such a relentlessly optimistic mindset that he sees redemption even in the Black Plague. He does have a point – it did, after wiping out a third of Europe’s population in the Middle Ages, give rise to the Renaissance – but it gives you the sense that O’Reilly sees even the worst burdens as opportunities.

And that is exactly his approach to the evolution of the tech industry and the workforce. O’Reilly, who’s written books like The Whole Internet User’s Guide & Catalog in 1992 and WTF: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us in […]

How I learned to stop worrying and love automation

How I learned to stop worrying and love automation

PHOTO © ZAPP2PHOTO | ADOBE STOCK U.S. manufacturing seemingly isn’t in a good position. According to data published by The U.S. Federal Reserve, factory production slumped through most of 2019’s first half, recovering slightly in May and June. Reports by the Institute for Supply Management echoed a similar sentiment, stating that U.S. factories had declined in multiple areas, including employment, orders, production, and deliveries.

The prevailing narrative of the media is that nothing can stop the ongoing decline of manufacturing. However, the industry’s savior may lie in one of its supposed antagonists – automation .

America has an unusual relationship with […]