Self-checkout, electronic ordering at fast food restaurants and tax preparation systems. Those are just a few changes seen in industries that have been impacted by automation.
According to a study performed by researchers at Ball State, approximately half of U.S. jobs are at risk of automation, or the use of automatic machines in manufacturing or production.
The study concludes the majority of these at-risk jobs are concentrated among low-income, low-skilled workers.
Dagney Faulk, director of research at Ball State, said the reason low-skilled jobs are at risk is because they are easier to automate.
"We're seeing it spread into services, too, it's not just manufacturing," Faulk said. "There are a couple of places that prototype ordering fast food yourself. Now when we go to the grocery store, we check out. Those are all low-skill jobs, so that affects teenagers and their ability to get their foot in the job market."
Emily Wornell, a research assistant professor in the Indiana Communities Institute at Ball State, said a societal focus needs to be placed on training the workforce with skills that serve a multitude of jobs such as positive communication, problem-solving and technological literacy.
"I believe it's really the responsibility of employers themselves or the worker themselves to actually get those specific job-training skills that they need for specific jobs," Wornell said.
Since this automation risk varies across different regions, Wornell said the state’s focus should be ensuring the workforce can fill today’s jobs while making sure it will be able to transfer some of those skills to jobs that may be around in the future.
The study listed four Indiana counties in its list of the 25 highest-risk automation counties nationwide – LaGrange, Switzerland, Blackford and Perry.
With the primary focus of automation risk is on economic impact, the study shows further impacts.
For example, involuntary job loss for non-performance-based reasons has direct impacts on health and mortality, childhood wellbeing and educational attainment.
Displacement also is typically met with higher rates of depression and anxiety. In some cases, the rates for displaced workers can be 30 percent greater than those of workers who are not displaced, according to the study.
Wornell said the children in families whose head of household has lost their job are more likely to repeat a grade in school, more likely to get suspended or expelled and have less educational attainment over their lifetimes.
"That's a major concern," Wornell said.
Michael Hicks, director of the Ball State Center for Business and Economic Research and professor of economics, said this shift in automation can also create jobs, such as the need for workers who operate and maintain the machines.
Hicks said he is confident automation will create more opportunities that society isn’t able to see yet.
"Agriculture in the first part of the 20th century was a similar change, and we survived that very well with vast movement into automation that nobody would've expected," Hicks said. "In 1900, nobody could've envisioned that the little, sleepy 200,000 people of Detroit by 1920 would be 1.4 million people — a third of them making cars.
"So, when we say, 'I don't know what's out there to replace the lost jobs' — because that was 1.4 million former farmers — that shouldn't be surprising."
Hicks said this new wave of automation in the workplace could be a gift in disguise, allowing some people to focus on entrepreneurship or work that isn't primarily centered around repetition.
With uncertainty forming around how and when automation will increase and what job skills will be valued, Hicks said it is important for people to focus on developing a variety of skills.
Automation may lead to a safer workplace in many areas, too, Hicks said.
"That's what automation tends to do; you tend to do things that make people live longer," Hicks said.
Contact Nate Fields with comments at nefields@bsu.edu or on Twitter @NateNada.
Read More
Bearcat pitching struggles lead to Muncie Central loss at Delta in Delaware County baseball clash
By David Moore / 10 hours agoAt the end of the evening, it was the Eagles who ended their four-game skid as Delta took the victory against the Bearcats 16-1 in five innings. Delta will be on the road for its next contest against Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Shelbyville April 23 at 6 p.m. Muncie Central will travel to Muncie Burris for its next matchup, also April 23 at 6 p.m.
Spring donation drive
By Amelia Winter / 15 hours agoBrand-new spring donation drive to help international students at Ball State University.
