Futurist Thomas Frey: In July 2011, as a cost cutting measure, the U.S. Postal Service put together a list of 3,700 post offices that it wanted to close.
Competing with Robots
Futurist Thomas Frey: During the late 1990s business and industry began to panic over the issues surrounding Y2K, which later turned out to be mostly manufactured fear.
The Threat of a Jobless World
Futurist Thomas Frey: People are seriously worried. I’ve been in a number of conversations recently where people are very worried about our coming era of automation where fewer and fewer jobs will be left for people to do.
Automate or perish – has it come to this?
Robots made by Kiva Systems move product shelves on a warehouse floor.
Author and entrepreneur Christopher Steiner tells the story of stockbroker Thomas Peterffy, the creator of the first automated Wall Street trading system in the new book due next month, Automate This. Using a computer to execute trades, without humans entering them manually on a keyboard, was controversial in 1987—so controversial that Nasdaq pressured him to unplug from its network. Then, with a wink, Peterffy built an automated machine that could tap out the trades on a traditional keyboard—technically obeying Nasdaq rules. Peterffy made $25 million in 1987 and is now a billionaire.
Continue reading… “Automate or perish – has it come to this?”
Post-Employment Era: Humans need not apply
Perhaps comedian Steven Wright said it best:
“I lost my job the other day. Well, I didn’t really lose it. I know where it’s at, it’s just when I go there someone else is doing it.”
They say that the truest comedy is the funniest, and there is nothing truer than the statement above. Steven’s old job didn’t go anywhere… his employer just found someone more qualified, more efficient, or less costly to do it. In today’s economy where layoffs and a bleak job market are the norm, the joke has lost a great deal of it’s humor. But a good look at the data proves Steven’s point — all those jobs are still there, it’s just that employers are finding more qualified, more efficient, and more cost-effective help.
Continue reading… “Post-Employment Era: Humans need not apply”
Building a rapid job-creation engine
Futurist Thomas Frey: Two hundred years ago, the most stable jobs involved the needs of a community and the work of a skilled craftsman to meet those needs. People holding jobs such as cobblers, blacksmiths, chandlers, and butchers found themselves in high demand.
Continue reading… “Building a rapid job-creation engine”
