Employment – Page 13

Automation, Employment, Food, Science & Technology News

How a robot that makes 300 pizzas an hour will create more jobs

October 9, 2019

Lower costs equals more opportunities.

A little startup in Seattle is about to flip the pizza business. Literally.

The company is called Picnic and for the past few years it’s been operating under the radar while it develops a propriety robot that makes pizzas. A lot of pizzas. Like, 300 pizzas in an hour.

According to Geekwire’s James Thorne, who visited the company to take a peek at the pizza-making robots himself, he was surprised to find that the machines were far from industrial-looking. “Instead,” he wrote. “It looked like a white, kitchen-sized iPhone. It could theoretically be installed in a food truck.”

Continue reading… “How a robot that makes 300 pizzas an hour will create more jobs”

Employment, Higher Education, Latest Trend, Report, Science & Technology News

Why some say college is no longer the sure path to success

October 8, 2019

An alarming—yet illuminating—new study conducted by Third Way, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, concludes that many who go to college come out earning less than the typical salary of a high school graduate. Contrary to popular opinion, which contends that the path to success is rooted in attaining a college education, the findings indicate that half of U.S. colleges in 2018 left their students earning under $28,000 a year.

In past generations, primarily the upper-class, wealthy elites attended universities. After World War II and the passing of the G.I. bill, soldiers returning from the battlefields were offered financial assistance to attend college—and they did so in large numbers. Slowly over time, in the ensuing decades, enrolling into college became almost commonplace for the average American. Today, there is great pressure put upon high school students to attend universities—even if they lack the aptitude or interest. Sometimes the pressure exerted on kids to attend top-tier institutions is intense. This was clearly exemplified by the recent college admittance scandal, in which the rich and famous parents allegedly bribed school officials to get their children into ivy league and top-tier universities.

Continue reading… “Why some say college is no longer the sure path to success”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Employment, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Robots are conducting job interviews now

October 7, 2019

An A.I. might also “reduce unconscious bias and promote diversity” in the workplace.

Are you ready to be interviewed by a robot? Well, you better get ready. Artificial intelligence just started being used for job interviews for the first time in England, and it may only a matter of time before this becomes common practice in the United States.

The major consumer goods company Unilever and other companies are now using artificial intelligence designed by an American company called HireVue to assist with with interviews in England. Here’s how it works, according to HireVue: The interviewee uses their phone or laptop to answer a set of predetermined questions, and the AI analyzes their voice, body language, facial expressions and more to determine if the person is a good candidate for the job. This AI was created by analyzing over 25,000 videos of job interviews.

Continue reading… “Robots are conducting job interviews now”

Analysis, Employment, Historical Perspectives, Science & Technology News

Why the Fourth Industrial Revolution could spell more jobs – not fewer

October 4, 2019

Automated packaging at an Italian factory.

If automation drives down prices, the result could be a net increase in jobs.

Ever since Homo erectus carved a piece of stone into a tool, the welfare of humanity has been on the increase. This technological breakthrough led first to the hand axe, and eventually to the iPhone. We have found it convenient to organize the most dramatic period of change between these two inventions – beginning roughly in the year 1760 – into four industrial revolutions.

As each revolution unfolded, dire predictions of massive job losses ensued, increasing each time. The first three are over, and these concerns were clearly misplaced. The number of jobs increased each time, as did living standards and every other social indicator.

McKinsey predicts that 800 million workers could be displaced in 42 countries, or a third of the workforce, because of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). When reminded of the experience with the previous revolutions, the comeback is often that this one is different. Although this has been said at the onset of each revolution, could there be something more to it this time?

Continue reading… “Why the Fourth Industrial Revolution could spell more jobs – not fewer”

2019 Predictions, Business, Economy, Employment, Science & Technology News

Co-working spaces pose threat to commercial real estate market, Fed official says

September 27, 2019

LaunchBio CEO Joan Siefert Rose leads a tour of life sciences co-working lab, BioLabs NC.

The growing popularity of co-working spaces like WeWork could pose a risk to the US economy in the next economic downturn, a Fed official warned on Friday.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren, who has publicly dissented with the Fed’s recent interest rate cuts, said lower rates will boost risk in “unexpected places.”

“Evolving market models, along with low interest rates, are creating a new type of potential financial stability risk in commercial real estate,” he said at an event in New York City. “One such market model is the development of co-working spaces in many major urban office markets.”

Continue reading… “Co-working spaces pose threat to commercial real estate market, Fed official says”

AI, Automation, Employment, Science & Technology News, women

AI Weekly: Automation in the workplace could disproportionately affect women

September 26, 2019

As AI and machine learning transform industries by automating much of the work currently done by humans, women’s careers will be disproportionately affected. That’s according to a McKinsey Global Institute report published earlier this year (“The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation“), which found that women predominate in occupations that’ll be adversely impacted. About 40% of jobs where men make up the majority in the 10 economies (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., the U.S., China, India, Mexico, and South America) contributing over 60% of GDP collectively could be displaced by automation in our 2030, compared with the 52% of women-dominated jobs with high automation potential.

Continue reading… “AI Weekly: Automation in the workplace could disproportionately affect women”

communication, Employment, Internet, new technology, Science & Technology News

How 5G will reinvent “working from home”

September 24, 2019

It’s 10:00 am. Do you know where your employee is? No doubt they are working—somewhere.

Thanks to greatly improved internet connectivity and workforce applications, employees in an increasing number of professions can work just about anywhere they want—in their home, at a coffee shop, on a plane. And chances are they’re more productive and more engaged than they would be if they were in the office. They may even be planning to stay in their job longer because of their flexible work location. In 2017, Stanford economics professor Nicholas Bloom, in a TED Talk, went so far as to call work-from-home potentially as innovative as the driverless car.

Now, work-from-home is itself about to be disrupted, by the coming of 5G and its ability to enable virtual reality (VR) anywhere through what’s known as XR, the combination of extended, augmented, virtual, and mixed reality technologies. Fifth-generation (5G) communications networks, with their exponentially faster connection speeds, capacity, and communication response times (known as latency), will make possible an astonishing range of innovative new products and services.

Continue reading… “How 5G will reinvent “working from home””

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Big Problems, Employment, IBM, Science & Technology News

120 million workers will need to be retrained due to AI, says IBM study

September 16, 2019

The skills gap is widening between people and AI.

But many CEOs tell IBM they don’t have the resources needed to close the skills gap brought on by emerging technologies.

Artificial Intelligence is apparently ready to get to work. Over the next three years, as many as 120 million workers from the world’s 12 largest economies may need to be retrained because of advances in artificial intelligence and intelligent automation, according to a study released Friday by IBM’s Institute for Business Value. However, less than half of CEOs surveyed by IBM said they had the resources needed to close the skills gap brought on by these new technologies.

“Organizations are facing mounting concerns over the widening skills gap and tightened labor markets with the potential to impact their futures as well as worldwide economies,” said Amy Wright, a managing partner for IBM Talent & Transformation, in a release. “Yet while executives recognize severity of the problem, half of those surveyed admit that they do not have any skills development strategies in place to address their largest gaps.”

Continue reading… “120 million workers will need to be retrained due to AI, says IBM study”

Banking, Employment, Future, Science & Technology News

6 futuristic jobs that will soon exist in the financial industry

September 12, 2019

I’d like to apply for the job of man-machine team manager, please

It used to be that a job in finance would set you up for life. Steady, reliable, dependable, calculators and sweater vests. These things come to mind when you think of a career in finance.

Just like in other industries, AI and machine learning are entering the scene and causing great disruption in what used to be one of the most stable career choices. In the US, one report found that 1.3 million bank workers will lose their jobs or be reassigned due to automation. Globally, finance leaders are predicting that 50% of jobs could be lost.

As these technologies develop, which jobs will become obsolete? Will a robot be doing my taxes in the future? At the same time, what new opportunities are on the horizon?

Continue reading… “6 futuristic jobs that will soon exist in the financial industry”

Automation, Driverless vehicles, Employment, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Truckers want to ban self-driving trucks in Missouri

September 7, 2019

Truck drivers worried about losing their jobs to robots staged a protest outside the Capitol building in Jefferson City, Missouri on Tuesday.

Their goal was to convince the government to pass a bill that would prohibit any self-driving trucks from driving on Missouri roads, KRCG reports. While there are no autonomous trucks handling shipping jobs in the state yet, the truckers see the emerging technology as a grave threat to their job security and livelihoods — unrest that signals what can happen when jobs are automated without giving thought to the displaced workers.

Continue reading… “Truckers want to ban self-driving trucks in Missouri”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Employment, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Automatic for the people? Experts predict how AI will transform the workplace

August 30, 2019

As artificial intelligence is increasingly introduced into business, an expert panel – hosted by the Guardian – forecast how it will change our working live

Workplaces should use automation technologies to enhance employees’ jobs rather than to replace humans, according to speakers at an event held by the Guardian on 11 July. However, they saw problems in the introduction of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, the latter including software as well as physical machines.

Will robots replace us?

“Humans should not worry too much about replacement, but need to find new ways to work together with AI,” said Chelsea Chen, co-founder of Emotech, a company which makes a voice-operated device called Olly that aims to recognise users’ emotions as well the content of speech.

Continue reading… “Automatic for the people? Experts predict how AI will transform the workplace”

Employment, Historical Perspectives, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

The new servant class

August 25, 2019

“Wealth work” is one of America’s fastest-growing industries. That’s not entirely a good thing.

In an age of persistently high inequality, work in high-cost metros catering to the whims of the wealthy—grooming them, stretching them, feeding them, driving them—has become one of the fastest-growing industries.

The MIT economist David Autor calls it “wealth work.”

Low-skill, low-pay, and disproportionately done by women, these jobs congregate near dense urban labor markets, multiplying in neighborhoods with soaring disposable income. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of manicurists and pedicurists doubled, while the number of fitness trainers and skincare specialists grew at least twice as fast as the overall labor force.

Continue reading… “The new servant class”