How Robots Show Us The Workplace Skills We Will Need, Yet Foolishly Resist

Even as Education Secretary DeVos makes a priority of STEM classes-science, technology, engineering, and math-and financial literacy advocates highlight the importance of schools teaching modern workplace skills, Americans display remarkable resistance to workplace change.

Workers are understandably concerned about a future where automation claims more and more jobs. Some 85% of adults want to restrict further automation to work that is dangerous or unhealthy, Pew found. More than half want the government to prevent jobs from being automated and to provide guaranteed income for those displaced by a machine.

This is like trying to hold back the tide. Technology will never stop moving the workplace towards machine labor. Some protections make sense, especially for older workers. But the way to beat this trend-and make an education pay-is by preparing for modern workplace needs.

There are some areas where robot workers would be more beneficial than humans. Nuclear plant safety, biohazard cleanup, and other fields of work where workers have to wear military hazmat suits at all times or risk death. However, this is not just it!

In a few instances, human workers also have to undergo training to mitigate the chances of fatal injuries. For that, they often have to learn about first aid kits (the topic could make for interesting further reading) and their application. Or they might have to learn how to use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), so that they can save themselves from hazardous worksite elements like lethal chemicals or toxic gases. Take, for example, in jobs related to nuclear power plants, workers might have to undergo training (or opt for something like Work health and safety course Melbourne) to gain BSB41419- Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety, so that they can learn how to protect themselves and their team from permanent injuries.

Needless to say that, if taken the help of robots for doing jobs in such sectors, then the machines could potentially reduce the risk of workers developing health complications. However, we are a long way off from this.

There are also plenty of jobs that are “soul-destroying” to work, where the detriments largely outweigh the benefits. Would a robot working this job allow for better job satisfaction in the working populace?

While being considered for Labor Secretary in March, Andrew F. Puzder spoke of the virtues of robots over humans: “They’re always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex or race discrimination case.” That probably didn’t help sell his case, but it does indicate where we are headed.

Coincidentally, PwC, a Right About Money sponsor, in March unveiled a $320 million pledge to widen its financial literacy commitment to include support for teachers and students seeking course work in modern workplace skills to help young people avoid becoming victims of automation and outsourcing.

By 2021, 69% of employers expect they will favor prospective hires with knowledge of data science and analytics, according to a report from PwC and the Business Higher Education Forum. Yet only 23% of college and university leaders say their graduates will have such knowledge. Some 79% of CEOs worry that a shortage of key skills could impair their companies’ growth.

Part of financial literacy is understanding the economics of careers-and using that information guide fields of study and gauge an appropriate level of student debt. Wishing automation weren’t so is not a plan.

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Posted in Latest Research on October, 2017