Industrial Robots Will Replace Manufacturing Jobs

The US and Canada have been losing jobs to offshore competition for almost half a century. From 2000 to 2010 alone, 5.6 million jobs disappeared. Interestingly, though, only 13 percent of those jobs were lost due to international trade.

The vast remainder, 85 percent of job losses, stemmed from “productivity growth”, another way of saying machines replacing human workers.

For many, this scenario is even worse. China and Mexico may be “taking our jobs,” but at least they’re going to other humans. Robots, on the other hand, allegedly threaten to wipe entire sectors, like manufacturing, right off the map. The level of fear-mongering here is high: “How to Keep Your Job When Robots Take Over.” “Is a robot about to take your job?” “What Governments Can Do When Robots Take Our Jobs.” It’s enough to make anyone a little nervous.

Fewer but, Better Human Jobs

The facts, however, tell a different story. Over the last 20 years, inflation-adjusted US manufacturing output has increased by almost 40 percent, and annual value added by US factories has reached a record $2.4 trillion. While there are fewer jobs, more is getting done. Manufacturing employees are better educated, better paid and producing more valuable products, including the technology that enables them to be so much more productive.

In fact, there are currently two million jobs going unfulfilled in the manufacturing sector, largely due to an aging workforce — the average age of a manufacturing worker is almost 45, two and a half years above the national non-farm median, and negligible interest in those jobs from younger generations.

These numbers lead to a different conclusion: Robots aren’t stealing our jobs, they’re improving them.

Robots are safer. They are more reliable. They are more ethical than using exploited labor overseas. Plus, they’re incredibly cost-effective, often delivering return on investment (ROI) in 12 months or less. That is a game-changer in an industry relentlessly driven by cost reduction and plagued by slow-drip evolution.

The subsequent cost savings produce a ripple effect. More jobs that are more desirable can remain in North America. Manufacturers can focus on and invest in innovation. As a result, new jobs are created that require and build a better educated, highly skilled workforce. There will be short-term job displacements, but long-term benefits to workers and society as a whole.

This isn’t just some unproven utopian vision. Periods of technological displacement show a consistent pattern in history. In the last century, we moved from people manually building cars to robots assembling cars.

As a result, manufacturers both produce more cars and employ more people per car than before. Instead of performing dangerous tasks, those workers now program the robots to do the dirty work for them, and get paid more for doing so. As long as we’ve had technology, we’ve had Luddites who sometimes literally destroy technological advancements, and yet, here we are, more productive, with a higher quality of living than ever.

Economics prove this out, as well. Periods of heavy investment in automation, like the industrial revolution, are strongly correlated with improvement in a nation’s GDP, which itself is strongly correlated with improvement in quality of life. This includes everything from safer workplaces with fewer injuries to greater personal satisfaction from performing more skilled work, creating a positive cycle. More skilled work means higher pay, which allows people to afford higher education, which leads to an even more skilled workforce that has the time and disposable income to further boost the economy.

A recent Washington Post article explained: “This is the natural dynamic by which market economies become richer as productivity improves. Improvements in agriculture productivity led to a wave of migration of farm workers to cities, where they provided the manpower for an industrial economy that eventually became so productive that we could afford to buy more health care, education, and yes, government.” We’re in the midst of the same cycle right now.

In spite of the fear-mongering and media hype, legitimate individual concerns and hollow political rants, robots are revolutionizing industry for the better. They are simply the latest form of technology criticized for taking jobs that no one should have to do.

In reality, they will enable us to keep more (and better) jobs at home, to grow local industry, to improve our lives at the micro and macro levels. With greater automation, efficiency, safety and productivity, the North American manufacturing sector will not only survive, it will showcase the power of our innovation and ingenuity.

So, will a robot take your job? Maybe. But in return, you, and your children and grandchildren, will likely find more meaningful work, for better pay. 

TechCrunch:

 

« Viv. An AI That Can Build Itself & Talks With People
Cybersecurity Skills Gap in India »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

The PC Support Group

The PC Support Group

A partnership with The PC Support Group delivers improved productivity, reduced costs and protects your business through exceptional IT, telecoms and cybersecurity services.

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North IT (North Infosec Testing) are an award-winning provider of web, software, and application penetration testing.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

Zymr

Zymr

Zymr specialize in cloud computing solutions including Cloud Security, Cloud Mobility, Cloud Apps, Cloud Infrastructure and Cloud Orchestration.

Luxar Tech

Luxar Tech

Luxar's network visibility products enable enterprises and service providers to monitor network traffic, improve security and optimize efficiency.

CyberOne

CyberOne

CyberOne (formerly Comtact) offer a full stack cybersecurity service to ensure our customers understand the cyber maturity of their organisation.

ComCERT

ComCERT

ComCERT SA is an independent, private consulting company focusing in the assistance of its customers facing the dangers of cyber threats and security incidents.

Inseego

Inseego

Inseego provides Enterprise SaaS solutions and IoT & Mobile solutions, which together form the backbone of intelligent, reliable and secure IoT services with deep business intelligence.

UNIDIR Cyber Policy Portal

UNIDIR Cyber Policy Portal

The UNIDIR Cyber Policy Portal is an online reference tool that maps the cybersecurity and cybersecurity-related policy landscape.

Securis

Securis

Securis provides organizations and agencies with the highest level of professional, ultra-secure data destruction and IT recycling.

EvoNexus

EvoNexus

EvoNexus is a technology startup incubator with locations in San Diego, Orange County, and Silicon Valley.

Broadcom

Broadcom

Broadcom is a global technology leader that designs, develops and supplies a broad range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions.

Secmation

Secmation

Secmation are an agile engineering services firm providing advanced DoD level security design and consultation services for both commercial and defense hardware and software applications.

Char49

Char49

Char49 specialize in Penetration Testing, Red Team Assessment, Social Engineering and Security Research.

Nagios

Nagios

Nagios is a powerful tool that provides you with instant awareness of your organization’s mission-critical IT infrastructure.

Hadrian

Hadrian

Hadrian is modernizing offensive security practices with automation, making them faster and more scalable. Equipped with the hacker’s perspective, companies can now know what their critical risks are.

Getronics

Getronics

Getronics guides customers through their own transformation journeys, leveraging an integrated and secure-by-design IT portfolio.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud

Accelerate your digital transformation. Whether your business is early in its journey or well on its way to digital transformation, Google Cloud can help solve your toughest challenges.

Miggo Security

Miggo Security

Miggo is the first Application Detection and Response (ADR) platform on a mission to stop application breaches.

WillCo Tech

WillCo Tech

WillCo Tech works to enhance national security and force readiness for military and commercial enterprises with a suite of software capabilities surrounding the human element of cybersecurity.