Tag: Technology

Africa should not lose sight of 4IR opportunities

As the 28th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa convenes in Cape Town this week, it offers an opportunity to consider ways to accelerate economic growth across the continent.

By Pieter Bensch, executive vice-president at Sage Africa & Middle East

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) sweeping across the world, one pressing concern is to evaluate how to harness digital technology to boost prosperity and employment across Africa.The 4IR will catalyse greater automation, higher productivity and lower costs across industries, driven by the advent of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, advanced robotics, intelligent software, artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledgers, 3D […]

The Question of the Century: Will Automation Take Over Our Jobs?

The Question of the Century: Will Automation Take Over Our Jobs?

Share Tweet Share Share Artificial Intelligence robot replaces in the work of man. Turnover workers. Vector illustration flat design. Isolated on white background. Technologies replace people. Robotics industry. We’ve all heard that automation will take over our jobs, but that’s not entirely true. Many of the great inventions of the last two hundred years were designed to eliminate human labor.

Although machines took over human occupations, the fraction of US adults employed in the labor market is higher now than in the 1890s. For example — the automation in the food industry is huge, but why are there still chefs?

Well, […]

Labor Day

Labor Day

How work, opportunity, economic security for all happens in an age of technological change

Editor’s note: Staff Writer Amy H. Peterson attended the Poynter Institute’s Future of Work fellowship in late 2018. This article is part of her continuing work exploring the workplace and local employment numbers.

It’s Labor Day. We’re inundated with reports that the economy is great. It is great for the top 10 percent of earners. For everyone else, there are risks, according to the Brookings Institute among many other sources.What does this mean for us? Article Photos Iowa’s employment numbers month to month look tremendous: under […]

Tomorrow’s jobs: 7 future roles that will exist in the age of automation

Tomorrow’s jobs: 7 future roles that will exist in the age of automation

Forget Skynet gaining sentience and starting a nuclear apocalypse aimed at humanity. The real fear a lot of folks have about artificial intelligence, robots and other automated processes is what it means for all of our jobs. According to a famous Oxford University study , around 47% of currently existing jobs could potentially be automated away within the next 15 years. Terrifying, right?

But there’s good news as well. While it’s inarguable that a certain number of jobs will vanish in the wake of automation, lots of new jobs are going to be created by technology as well. Jobs like […]

Automation Could Wipe Out Almost Half of All Jobs in 20 Years

Automation Could Wipe Out Almost Half of All Jobs in 20 Years

Automation, robots and globalization are rapidly changing the workplace and governments must act fast and decisively to counter the effects or face a worsening of social and economic tensions, the OECD warned.

Almost half of all jobs could be wiped out or radically altered in the next two decades due to automation, the Paris-based group said in a report on Tuesday. According to OECD Labor Director Stefano Scarpetta, the pace of change will be “startling.”

Safety nets and training systems built up over decades to protect workers are struggling to keep up with the “megatrends” changing the nature of work, the […]

WEF must focus on 4IR’s positive impact on jobs

WEF must focus on 4IR’s positive impact on jobs

As the 28th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa convenes in Cape Town from 4-6 September, it offers an opportunity to consider ways to accelerate economic growth across the continent. With the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) sweeping across the world, one pressing concern is to evaluate how to harness digital technology to boost prosperity and employment across Africa.

The 4IR will catalyse greater automation, higher productivity and lower costs across industries, driven by the advent of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, advanced robotics, intelligent software, artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledgers, 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality, and a range […]

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 […]