Running head: Automation and How it Affects Workers 1

Automation and How it Affects Workers

By

Logan Lombardi

Campbell County Schools Senior Research Project

submitted to Brookville High School

4/23/2021
Automation and How it Affects Workers 2

Introduction/Problem Statement

How exactly does automation affect workers around the world? I went on a journey

through Gale’s online database to search for opinions on automation in the workplace. I also

searched through Google for credible sources and data. The reason I am doing research on this is

because the future jobs of my classmates and I rest in how automation affects the worker. Some

of the questions I chose for this research are “how does automation affect employees”, “how

does automation affect production”, and “how does automation affect jobs?” This topic matters

to me personally because a few of the jobs I wanted to do have been taken by automation. My

topic should matter to our state and country, as more potential jobs are taken by automation. I

believe that if our state understands this topic then we can better prepare for our future economy.

Literature Review

How does automation affect employees?

Automation affects workers in various ways. One way it affects workers is their wages.

“Improvements in technology adversely affect wages and employment through the displacement

effect, in which robots or other automation complete tasks formerly done by workers” (Brown A

new study measures the actual impact of robots on jobs. It's significant.). Automation has caused

numerous jobs to give lower wages because their jobs could be done by a machine. Some people

lose their jobs in the process, as it is easier to maintain a machine than a human in some

dangerous jobs.
Automation and How it Affects Workers 3

How does automation affect production?

Automation greatly affects production in various industries from car factories to

refineries. Automation increases the efficiency of production and reduces waste if used properly.

The affects are better written in Mantec’s web page (unknown How Has Automation Affected the

Manufacturing Industry?) “Reduced production time: Because machinery is able to operate

more quickly and efficiently than human workers in many cases, it can help production move

faster. Higher-volume production: Machinery can create products in less time and produce

more of them within a given time frame. Less human error: Human workers are susceptible to

misjudgment and forgetfulness, but these are mistakes machines don’t tend to make.Increased

safety: Because people don’t have to be as involved with the production process, they’re able to

stay safer. If something goes wrong on the assembly line, the worst-case scenario may be a

broken machine part rather than an injured worker.” As the web page puts it automation brings

many advantages.

How does automation affect jobs?

Automation affects jobs in similar ways to how it affects employees. Automation takes

jobs from employees, but it also gives jobs as well. This quote from an Economy and Jobs article

“Yet most analysis tends to be prospective in nature, and estimates of future impacts on

employment vary widely, with some studies predicting that as many as 50 percent of all workers

are at risk of losing their jobs to automation.” (Rodgers et al. How Robots Are Beginning to

Affect Workers and Their Wages). Automation makes up for most of these job losses by creating

new jobs to build and maintain those machines.

Automation and How it Affects Workers 4

Learning Explanation

I learned quite a lot about automation while researching how it affects people. I hoped to

learn about how automation benefited the economy, but I also learned how if automation is used

carelessly then the economy may end up worse due to the major loss in jobs. If I hadn’t learned

more about automation then I would have taken it for granted without considering how it

affected people that used to work in the same factories. I hope that the impact of my paper is

large, but while it has potential I don’t think I can do it justice. I think the next step would be to

get a person who has a great amount of experience in research on this subject to learn more. I

also think that I would need to find someone who has a great effect with their words to assist in

writing more about this to really get the point across. Events that could raise awareness would be

a protest or a public outcry. Unfortunately we in America are short sighted, so even if it gets

more awareness we the American people may not see much change in several years.
Automation and How it Affects Workers 5

References

Bessen, James, and James Kossuth. “Research: Automation Affects High-Skill Workers

More Often, but Low-Skill Workers More Deeply.” Harvard Business Review, 18 Mar.

2019,

hbr.org/2019/02/research-automation-affects-high-skill-workers-more-often-but-low-skill-

workers-more-deeply.

(Bessen and Kossuth Research: Automation Affects High-Skill Workers More Often, but Low-Skill

Workers More Deeply)

International, Dean Group. “How Does Automation Impact the Manufacturing Industry?:

Dean Group.” Dean Group International, 22 Aug. 2019,

www.deangroup-int.co.uk/how-does-automation-impact-the-manufacturing-industry/#:~:te

xt=Automation%20is%20capable%20of%20greatly,improve%20a%20company's%20botto

m%20line.

(International How Does Automation Impact the Manufacturing Industry?: Dean Group)

unknown, Laura. “How Has Automation Affected the Manufacturing Industry?” Mantec,

19 Feb. 2021, mantec.org/how-has-automation-affected-the-manufacturing-industry/.

(unknown How Has Automation Affected the Manufacturing Industry?)

Brown, Sara. “A New Study Measures the Actual Impact of Robots on Jobs. It's

Significant.” MIT Sloan, 29 July 2020,

Automation and How it Affects Workers 6

mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/a-new-study-measures-actual-impact-robots-jobs-it

s-significant#:~:text=The%20researchers%20said%20automation%20technologies,create%

20a%20stronger%20displacement%20effect.&text=Thus%2C%20adding%20one%20robot

%20reduces%20employment%20nationwide%20by%203.3%20workers.

(Brown A new study measures the actual impact of robots on jobs. It's significant.)

Rodgers, William M., et al. “How Robots Are Beginning to Affect Workers and Their

Wages.” The Century Foundation, 22 Oct. 2019,

tcf.org/content/report/robots-beginning-affect-workers-wages/?agreed=1.

(Rodgers et al. How Robots Are Beginning to Affect Workers and Their Wages)