Why Robots Pose A Huge Threat To Low-

Wage Workers Around The World

We see the headlines often these days, screaming that robots and
automation will take our jobs. And while, yes, artificial intelligence
and robotics are changing the workforce by automating jobs, so it
has been since humans began using tools. A dishwasher replaces
the job of the person washing dishes; a cookstove replaces the need
for someone to build a fire; even a wheel makes it easier for one
person to move heavy objects that many people would otherwise be
needed to move. The wheel takes human jobs!

Screaming: gritos, chillidos, berrear, chirriar

workforce

En la actualidad muy a menudo leemos los titulares, el

Vemos los titulares a menudo estos días, gritando que los robots y la
automatización tomarán nuestros trabajos. Y mientras, sí, la inteligencia
artificial y la robótica están cambiando la fuerza de trabajo mediante la
automatización de trabajos, por lo que ha sido desde que los humanos
comenzaron a usar herramientas. Un lavavajillas reemplaza el trabajo de la
persona que lava los platos; una estufa reemplaza la necesidad de que alguien
encienda un fuego; incluso una rueda facilita que una persona mueva objetos
pesados que, de otro modo, se necesitarían para mover a muchas personas. ¡La
rueda toma trabajos humanos!

The good news is that so far in our history, society has adapted. When a new
technology appears that displaces human workers, those workers are
reabsorbed into another part of the economy and workforce. The real problem
occurs when the change happens too quickly.

Immediately we think of factory workers and assembly line workers being

replaced by robots. But, in fact, sales clerks, cashiers, waitstaff, fast food
workers, and others earning the minimum wage should be concerned for their
future. As governments fight to raise the minimum wage, the cost of
automation becomes more feasible for companies.

The CEO of McDonald’s pointed out that the cost of a $35,000 robotic arm
begins to look more reasonable to him when faced with the prospect of paying
all his workers $15 per hour.

As automation becomes more economically viable, it will become cheaper than

paying even the cheapest human workers. Just look at China.
Earlier this year, Foxconn — the Chinese supplier of Apple products —
announced that it has used robots to cut the workforce at just one factory from
110,000 down to just 50,000.

!”##$%&/(

Part of the problem in China particularly is that its workforce is rapidly

shrinking. Because of population controls, as previous generations age out of
the workforce, there aren’t as many young people to take their place. Some
reports suggest that the newer generations realize this, and are demanding
better pay and better working conditions because they now have a bargaining
chip.

China is automating its factories to simply try to keep its place as the world’s
manufacturer, but it is slipping, which opens up opportunities for other
emerging economies, including India and the Philippines, to step in and take
its place as low cost manufacturing centers.

But everything comes full circle. As automation becomes less expensive, it

makes better economic sense for some western companies to return
production to the U.S. and Europe. When robots can produce products for
roughly the same cost as human laborers overseas, the savings in shipping and
manufacturing turnaround time can make good business sense.

Just last month I covered the story that sportswear giant Adidas is doing
exactly that – brining manufacturing back to Germany and the U.S. by
opening new, fully automated, factories.

Will developing nations be able to absorb hundreds of thousands, even

millions of unemployed workers back into their economy when automation
takes their jobs? If it happens too quickly, the consequences may be dire for
these, the most vulnerable workers in the world.