White Collar Job Loss to Tech Innovation

Professor Richard Baldwin has been researching Globalization for over 30 years. Without question, he has access to the latest information about how technology is impacting jobs and how its continued development is very likely to do so in future, near and far. Mr. Baldwin has published a new book entitled The Globotics Upheaval which gives his unique and well-researched perspective on the future of work and the jobs that will be impacted. The picture for many workers in the US is not pretty. What is somewhat unique to us is how he quickly points out that many future job losses to technological innovation will impact white-collar office jobs, not just low skill jobs.

The Wharton School of Business had Professor Baldwin on a recent podcast and provided both access to same as well as a limited transcript of parts of the interview, entitled How Globalization and Robotics Speed Up Job Losses

In the interview Professor Baldwin brings up the concept of improved digital technology leading to white collar jobs being lost to far less expensive foreign workers like tele-migrants or international freelancers who can leverage remote work capabilities.We agree that employers will seek out cost savings and move work around, which will cost American jobs.

The interview also contained an ominous warning that “It is a serious possibility that the displacement will happen very fast.” .

We agree.

Tell us what you think?

Autonomous vehicles and job loss documentary

A somewhat unexpected group formed to produce a documentary on coming self-driving or autonomous vehicles, and some of the keyway that they will impact the world, including mass job loss.

IAutonomy was produced by Car & Driver Magazine, directed by Alex Horwitz and features none other than famed author Malcomb Gladwell as Executive Producer.

The documentary was shown at the most recent SXSW to a limited audience and is in the process of exploring a deal to make it available for distribution. Two great articles cover the documentary and offer some interesting perspective on the fact that many people do not conceptualize the impact that autonomous vehicles will have on jobs and the associated job loss, from two different perspectives. 

The first article worth a read is from Nick Statt @NickStatt from the Verge entitled New Documentary Autonomy makes the convincing case that self-driving cars will change everything . The second is an interview by Dan Costa of PCMag.com with Alex Horwitz entitled ‘Autonomy’ Documentary Director: Don’t Fear Our Self-Driving Future.

Job loss to technology, AI, robotics and blockchain are likely going to dramatically alter the lives of tens, if not hundreds of millions of Americans, for the worse.

Sitting here in 2019, it seems that although jobs are being impacted by technological improvements, the swing to extreme job loss has not occurred. Not yet.

Although some well-researched prognostications suggest that the future job loss to technology would be as bad as many others, take for instance the mere 36 million projected in a recent article from The Avenue publication by the Brookings Institution. Considering that we currently measure monthly job growth in the range of 180,00 new jobs in a month, losses of 36 million is a massive divergence.

The Brookings article goes on to point out that much of the job loss to technology will affect are most endangered member of society, namely those will limited formal education and those who work in repeatable, routine jobs. Worse yet, much of the pain of job loss will be felt in specific geographic regions. Cities known for one or two industries can easily find mass unemployment unfold, while other communities fell little of the pain. This makes the need for upskilling and gaining an edge in the job market vital from hard working people to remain relevant and employed.

What are your thoughts on the potential of future job loss to technology?

Amazon Warehouse Robots

It wasn’t cheap to Deploy these Amazon Warehouse robots. Watch as they bring the shelves to workers for pick and pack. It’s easy to see what the cost benefits are. More room in the warehouse for products. No wandering humans looking for products. Fewer humans for mistakes. The labor left behind is far more productive.

Watch these Amazon Warehouse Robots in action.

High-Tech Robots to Replace Casino Bartenders and Cashiers

Casino giant MGM plans to replace thousands of workers with robots in 2020. In doing so, the company expects to save nearly $300 million in the coming years.

Casino bartenders and cashiers will be the first to lose their jobs to robots, reports Vegas Slots Online. Automatic drink-making technology will replace human bartenders, while mobile payment processors will eliminate the need for cashiers. In response, however, union workers will likely push back hard. That’s because MGM may be violating the labor agreement it with the Las Vegas Culinary Union (LVCU) in June 2018. Specifically, the five-year agreement guarantees that MGM will not implement technology that negatively impacts employment. But, despite that, CEO Jim Murren says MGM aims to “maximize profitability” and “lay the groundwork for the company’s digital transformation.”

What other casino jobs will robots replace?

Upskilling and Re-Skilling Will Be the Hallmarks or Long-Term Future Employment

As intellectuals argue about what impact new technologies and innovations will have on the labor market, it is extremely unlikely that it will be minimal and that massive numbers of new vocations will be created.

Employers want nothing more than to cut costs, reduce disruptions and automate. AI, machine learning, blockchain, robotics, autonomous vehicles and drones are all just beginning to enter the world. There has never in the history of mankind been so many powerful potential disruptions to the workforce as there are now. We are also beginning to see that the job market is impacted by workers who have skills and education, but that these attributes are no longer as helpful to the new type of jobs that are emerging.  Education systems are not training us to be relevant in the new tech enabled economy and many current jobs aren’t either. This skill gap can be filled by what is known as upskilling or re-skilling. Those wishing to stay relevant in the labor market would be well served to become aware of opportunities to get this upskilling and quickly, before the job market shrinks and creates a mass of available job seekers all looking for work at the same time.

This point about upskilling and re-skilling was driven home in an article by Lynda Gratton in the prestigious MIT Sloan Management Review drawn upon her takeaways from the most recent World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland.

Will 3D Printers, Robotics, and AI Create Manufacturing Jobs in Ohio?

Northeast Ohio grudgingly said goodbye to traditional jobs and prepares to adapt to the future of manufacturing, starting with 3D printers.

Tens of thousands of steel and automobile manufacturing jobs have disappeared from the Youngstown, Ohio region. But local leaders hope that a new wave of industry can revitalize the area, reports CNN Business. Specifically, academics are collaborating with industry to create a flexible manufacturing base that can quickly adapt to consumers’ changing needs. Entrepreneurs and startups will build on the region’s manufacturing savvy to create new industries. And they’re starting with enormous 3D printing plants.

Jobs in the manufacturing industry will return, but they won’t be the same. In fact, a small number of educated workers will replace thousands of middle-class jobs once held by locals with high school diplomas. Furthermore, robots with artificial intelligence, not humans, will complete many of the manufacturing tasks.

FedEx to Introduce the SameDay Bot Delivery Robot

FedEx is preparing to test the SameDay Bot, an autonomous, six-wheeled delivery robot. The first stop for the mini FedEx truck: the sidewalks of Memphis, Tennessee.

Businesses like FedEx are ambitiously pursuing automatic delivery options, reports CNN. To do so, the shipping giant will partner with AutoZone, Pizza Hut, Target, and Walmart, among others. Together, they will develop an understanding of how to compete with front-runners like Amazon.  

Of course, automated deliveries will impact employment. Driving jobs, in particular, are at risk as reliance on artificial intelligence increases. But a FedEx spokesperson said that robots will create new, higher-paying jobs, such as remote operators, software developers, and machine experts.

Do you think automatic delivery systems will hurt or help the U.S. economy?

2018 Was the Year of the Robot

U.S. companies installed more robots in 2018 than ever before, thanks to a decrease in prices and an increase in flexibility. And for the first time ever, car plants aren’t accounting for more than half of those sales.

Shipments of robots grew by nearly 16 percent from 2017 to 2018, reports Reuters. And that growth touched on a wide array of industry sectors. Shipments to food and consumer goods companies , for example, increased by 60 percent, while growth in electronics plants and metal producers went up by 50 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Companies are feeling political pressure to bring overseas work back to the U.S. And to be competitive, they’re countering higher U.S. labor costs by automating jobs. So, while the work may return to U.S., it may not have a positive impact on the nation’s employment rate. Metro Plastics Technologies, Inc. in Indiana, for example, replaced three forklift drivers with one robot.

PepsiCo Will Pay a Fortune to Replace Human Workers with Automation

PepsiCo will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in severance pay to laid-off workers in Texas and New York as it replaces humans with automation.

CEO Ramon Laguarta said PepsiCo is “relentlessly automating” with the “best new technologies.” In other words, reports Business Insider, the company’s four-year restructuring plan includes cutting jobs in Texas and New York. And to do so, it’s willing to pay millions in layoff severances and other employee costs.

Laguarta said that Pepsico, as a result, will become “more capable, leaner, more agile, and less bureaucratic.” And in doing so, the company expects to drive down costs and save $1 billion every year through 2023. Anonymous workers report that they’ll be out of a job by April 2019.

Which type of PepsiCo is more worthy of respect? Would you rather support an efficient, automated and highly profitable company or one that keeps more workers employed?