With the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge in automation, both in the service and manufacturing sectors, may endanger workers across the United States. According to the New York Times, enabling automation in facilities could boost production while also costing employment.
Many industries turned to technology and modernized systems for smooth operations last year, owing to social distancing regulations and fears of infection.
Even though the situation is improving this year, the wage disparity between last year and this year makes it difficult to employ people. As a result, there will be a greater emphasis on automation.
“The newest wave of automation,” according to some economists, “may kill jobs and diminish bargaining power.”
“It’s pretty hard to turn back once a job is mechanized,” Casey Warman, an economist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, told the New York Times.
The demand for automation has risen as a result of a skilled labor shortage and workers’ refusal to return to work.
Rockwell Automation, a provider of industrial automation solutions, reported fiscal year growth of 6%, with dramatically higher orders in November and December.
According to a research paper produced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2021, pandemic-induced automation would worsen inequality in the future years, not just in the United States, but globally.
According to the New York Times, Katy George, a senior partner at McKinsey, the consulting firm, automation may affect individual workers. Still, if technology makes the economy more productive, it may be beneficial to all workers.
The supermarket sector has traditionally been a source of stable jobs for people without a college diploma, according to the newspaper.
However, technology and automation have recently altered this industry: According to the newspaper, “Self-checkout lanes have reduced the number of cashiers; several retailers have simple robots patrol aisles for spills and check inventory.”
According to the New York Times, Daron Acemoglu of MIT wrote in a research paper that “a considerable percentage of the rise in U.S. wage disparity over the last four decades has been driven by automation,” and that trend had almost probably intensified during the pandemic.
Meltwich, a Canadian restaurant with plans to expand into the United States, has embraced a variety of technology to reduce labor expenses.
Many other employers in the United States are using automation to replace workers, yet employers are eager to rehire workers.
2021 (C) Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not offer financial advice. All intellectual property rights are reserved./nRead More