Robots Could Kill a Bright Spot in the U.S Employment Picture
Developers are close to creating robots that can move products off shelves and into boxes, a breakthrough that would revolutionize one of the most labor-intensive aspects of e-commerce.
Read Full Story: Next Leap for Robots: Picking Out and Boxing Your Online Order – WSJ
One of things keeping the Unemployment Rate low has been the explosion in demand for workers in the many fulfillment and distribution centers across the country — after all, someone has to grab all the orders from the shelves and put them in the box to ship to you. Or do they?
The evolution in robotic technology could kill those jobs too, as this story from the Wall Street Journal depicts. It’s why our Tooling & Retooling investment theme has been rising in prominence lately. The theme sits in the cross hairs of high under-employment and hiring managers that can’t find qualified workers and an educational system that is stagnating at a time when federal, state and local budgets are being cut.
What this report solidifies is that the future of what could be considered low-skill work isn’t bright. This includes not just fulfillment centers, but also the recent report of a fully automated McDonald’s puts the future of working in fast-food restaurants in doubt for the future. On the other hand, being able to design, build, install and repair all of these automated systems and robots, that’s a skill that will be in top demand, as well as the cyber-security skills to prevent intruders from hacking into the system.
