Current headlines will tell you that automation eliminates jobs- but trends are indicating otherwise. While jobs are changing with its introduction, more work, not less, are being created in automation’s wake.
Like most buzz worthy headlines, it’s reductive to state that automation is out for our jobs and livelihoods. It’s not wrong to say that technology is dramatically restructuring the face of our society, but the fear mongering that lingers when automation is the topic is misplaced and misinformed. The truth is, there’s no walking innovation back, and automation is simply a symptom of an innovative species. Historically speaking, attempts to do just that result in more than just failure- resistance can mean death (at least in the terms of a company’s growth and profits). What’s to be done in the face of inevitable evolution? The same humans and their economies have always done- adapt and grow. We are ceaselessly marching towards the future after all, whether some want to or not.
The unease about automation is understandable: that increased automation will gobble up positions and jobs, rending humans obsolete and leaving great swaths of the population unemployed and subjected to poverty. But the panic surrounding the possibilities is out of proportion with the reality. The World Economic Forum, a Swiss not-for-profit organization dedicated to conducting research into worldwide economic trends, predicts that while automation may displace up to 75 million jobs, up to 133 million will be created in parallel. For the US in particular, the BBC reports that the OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, figures only 10% of jobs had a high risk of complete automation take over, over a period of 20 years.
There’s one aspect that could stand to be done away with in the wave of increased automation- and that’s the middleman. Increased automation, in it’s quest for efficiency and productivity, will effectively render middlemen less important to the overall success of any venture. Software automation consolidates and unifies business transactions, robotic automation removes menial and repetitive human labor. For businesses, net gains resulting from reductions in costs through increased automation frees them up to deliver higher quality products- and ultimately increase spending. Likewise, automation will inevitably lead to greater product output, which facilitates expansion and company growth. The inevitable productivity gains allowed through automation yields profitable results for both companies and their consumers. Automate America’s platform removes the middleman while filling the new roles that are crucial to the successful implementation of automation practices. AA exists to post jobs created by automation on a daily basis.
Surprisingly, automation is poised to reinvigorate the domestic market. The promise to bring manufacturing (and its jobs) from the clutches of irresistible outsourcing back to the US has long been a rallying cry of political motivators and new entrepreneurial start ups alike. Unlike the predominantly futile traditional efforts in resurrecting long dead industries, (the ones buried on US soil at least), increased automation is shaping up to be an unexpected deliverer of American based jobs. This is largely due to the concept of ‘reshoring’, which occurs when companies are subjected to increasing production costs worldwide and balk at the rising expenses. Robotics automation, and the cost efficiencies they promise, are investments in domestic jobs. And their returns in value can’t be understated. Despite fears of the contrary, increased automation is a crucial component of restoring initiatives- and if successful given current trends, can actually create more jobs in the US market.
For jobs that require skilled work, automation doesn’t seek to ‘take over’ their jobs- they stand to improve, innovate, streamline, and create new opportunities. Robotics, engineering, and manufacturing markets are among the types of industries that will still require skilled human workers alongside automation advancement. Automation complements, instead of substitutes. Automate America successfully operates with this knowledge that increased automation creates jobs. What sort of valuable tasks are allowed now that increased automation has created them?