How scared are the world’s workers about automation?
Workers in many countries think that automation will lead to ‘significant’ job losses and are doubtful about the technology’s impact on efficiency and output, according to a survey just released by the Pew Research Centre.
Coming in at the top of the chart is Greece, with 91% of the population believing that automation will ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ replace many jobs currently done by humans in the next 50 years. Japan (89%) and Canada (84%) follow closely behind, although most of those respondents thought that it was ‘probably’ likely. After Greece (52%), the ‘definitely’ countries were South Africa (45%) and Argentina (40%).
As we know, in many countries the transformation of the workplace has already begun. Let’s take South Korea as an example, there are more than 600 installed industrial robots for every 10,000 workers in manufacturing facilities. A short distance away in Japan there are more than 300 and in the United States, nearly 200. The impact automation can have on the workforce is obvious when it comes to profit maximisation and labour outlay resources.
The average hourly cost of a manufacturing worker is $49 in Germany and $36 in the U.S. The hourly running cost of a robot is $4. How far will the use of computers and artificial intelligence spread? The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that 14% of jobs in advanced economies could become automated away completely and another 32% substantially changed, affecting the lives of millions of workers in the near future.
“That’s why the Magnetics platform is so important” says Magnetics founder Adam Kilshaw. “We know that millions of jobs are at risk of automation, but workers lack the support to re-enforce their value-add to industry. That’s why the magnetics jobs platform not only provides quantified information regarding automation, but how workers can safeguard themselves against it. All within a social recruitment and HR platform.” Read the white paper here.
