08-22-2017, 02:13 PM
Most technology and employment experts, however, are quick to note that mechanization can have a tremendous positive impact on productivity that produces more creative, higher paying jobs. Another crucial distinction is that manufacturing work is particularly susceptible to automation, while many service industry jobs face less aggressive shifts from technology. A new report from the Brookings Institution finds robots "are congregating densely in some places but are hardly found in others." The chart below suggests "industrial robots are by no means everywhere, they are clustered heavily in a short list of Midwestern and Southern manufacturing states, especially the upper Midwest."
Robots concentrated in auto heavy manufacturing spots, Midwest, South - Business Insider
Donald Trump is fixated on a vision of masculine, blue-collar employment. But the retail sector has long had a far greater impact on American employment – and checkout-line technology is putting it at risk... A recent analysis by Cornerstone Capital Group suggests that 7.5m retail jobs – the most common type of job in the country – are at “high risk of computerization”, with the 3.5m cashiers likely to be particularly hard hit. Another report, by McKinsey, suggests that a new generation of high-tech grocery stores that automatically charge customers for the goods they take – no check-out required – and use robots for inventory and stocking could reduce the number of labor hours needed by nearly two-thirds. It all translates into millions of Americans’ jobs under threat.
End of the checkout line: the looming crisis for American cashiers | Technology | The Guardian