Future of Work
AI-AUGMENTED PROFESSIONS
LOST IN THE FOG How bespoke AI systems offer a way forward
robotic technology, attracted by Amazon’s better pay. Managers revealed another side to the story. Implementing robotics had slashed the workforce by as much as 90 per cent at individual sites – at one warehouse, 60 workers were reduced to just six. But as Amazon’s business expanded and warehouses continued to be established, a recruitment drive had camouflaged those redundancies. Amazon UK created 25,000 permanent jobs across corporate functions, R&D, and operations in 2021. That number was expected to grow last year. In addition to this, some Amazon workers were being upskilled to supervise the newcomers (both robotic and human). For the time being at least, these robots appear to be cost-saving job producers. Technological innovations might automate some tasks, but do not necessarily replace human workers. In China, an abundant and cost-effective workforce has given human labour an advantage over Alibaba’s robots, which proved to be expensive and time-consuming to install and maintain. Meanwhile, Amazon’s continuous growth in the UK has outweighed the diminishing demand for staff in the labour process at each individual workplace. As labour costs rise, intelligent machines could become more attractive, supplementing and even helping to grow the UK workforce. In both cases, job creation has grown alongside the increased automation. So what does this means for workers on the frontline? I believe that it means we have good reason to be hopeful. My findings suggest that ‘technological unemployment’ – job loss directly caused by new technology – is not inevitable. Some commentators continue
to make predictions about the future of work based on whether individual tasks could be automated in a particular profession. I would argue that this, by itself, is not a good indicator for the real risk of job loss and often predicts the ‘worst-case scenario’. In order to properly understand the impact of automation and AI on employment, it is essential to consider the political economy of technology in a particular workplace. On the other hand, staying hopeful is not enough either. Only action will provide workers with the security they need. Giving workers a voice in terms of individual experiences gains greater importance in this new, AI-enabled world of work, because it helps to reveal the actual impact of technological transformation. This might be achieved individually through social media platforms, or collectively through union representatives. In order to properly understand the impact of automation and AI on employment, we need more empirical research. That is why WBS has teamed up with the Institute for the Future of Work to collect first-hand data to understand how technologies impact the UK job market. Our goal is to provide robust evidence to guide government policy. After all this will be one of the decisive factors that that will shape the business environment, labour standards, and livelihoods of the human workforce in the future.
supermarkets’ spell the end for robots in retail? Not at all. Many of the changes attempted by Alibaba are mirrored at other firms who are exploring AI as a way to cut costs and gain a competitive edge over their rivals. Take Amazon, for example, which occupies a similar position in the West as Alibaba does in China. Robots and intelligent machines are becoming more common across its operations. Has this made Amazon workers feel more vulnerable about their jobs? Again, no, at least not excessively so. Conducting interviews with warehouse workers and their managers in recent months, it was surprising to see the diverse range of opinions on offer. While some had concerns, most frontline workers that I spoke to believed these digital technologies had actually created jobs and improved some aspects of their work, with some highlighting how assistance from robots had made their labour less physically demanding. Some staff had even joined from other warehouses, despite the rise in
by Joe Nandhakumar & Zhewei Zhang
Learn more about our research on The Future of Work at Warwick Business School.
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