{"id":16068,"date":"2019-04-15T01:23:06","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T01:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=16068"},"modified":"2019-04-16T12:24:02","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T12:24:02","slug":"retailers-like-walmart-are-embracing-robots-heres-how-workers-can-tell-if-theyll-be-replaced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/retailers-like-walmart-are-embracing-robots-heres-how-workers-can-tell-if-theyll-be-replaced\/","title":{"rendered":"Retailers like Walmart are embracing robots \u2013 here’s how workers can tell if they’ll be replaced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beth Humberd<\/a>, University of Massachusetts Lowell<\/a><\/em> and Scott F. Latham<\/a>, University of Massachusetts Lowell<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Walmart recently said<\/a> it plans to deploy robots to scan shelves, scrub floors and perform other mundane tasks in its stores as the retail giant seeks to lower labor costs<\/a>. <\/p>\n

While the retail giant did not say which jobs, if any, might be lost as a result, the announcement \u2013 and the many more surely to follow at other big box retailers \u2013 begs the question: How can workers prepare for a future of increasingly automated work? <\/p>\n

Millions of today\u2019s jobs are expected to be affected by artificial intelligence and automation as part of the \u201cfourth industrial revolution<\/a>.\u201d But just which occupations are most at risk has been a guessing game among economists, futurists and scholars trying to predict winners and losers<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As experts on workers\u2019 identities and careers<\/a> and industry and technological change<\/a>, we developed a new tool we believe will help workers more accurately determine the fate of their professions \u2013 and figure out how best to prepare.<\/p>\n

Who will be hurt<\/h2>\n

A host of research studies have examined where industrial revolution 4.0 is likely to wield its greatest impact. <\/p>\n

Driven by a focus on cost and efficiency, most predictions pit one group of workers against another. For example, blue collar versus white collar<\/a>, skilled versus unskilled<\/a>, college-educated versus not college-educated<\/a> and even predictions by race<\/a> and gender<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While these broad groupings may grab headlines<\/a>, they offer little guidance to individual workers at a time when, more than ever, individuals are expected to take responsibility for managing and driving their own careers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rather than focus on efficiency or cost, our research<\/a> offers a more nuanced and sustainable tool for examining the fate of one\u2019s profession: value.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n While humans will still value the skills of a college professor in the future, AI and online learning tools are threatening the way those abilities are delivered.<\/span>
\n AP Photo\/Matt Rourke<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Worker value<\/h2>\n

Our research is based on the idea that every individual\u2019s work creates value in his or her day-to-day job. <\/p>\n

That value may be something a customer pays for, may enable co-workers to do their own jobs or may help the company to function internally. In any case, every job provides some degree of worth or usefulness to another party. The value is constant, but the way it is created and delivered to the end user can be threatened by automation and AI. Only after we\u2019ve evaluated that can we determine how the coming wave of technological change will affect a job\u2019s future prospects. To assess these threats, we need to break value down into two key components.<\/p>\n

First, value is created by the skills required to complete a job, such as a programmer\u2019s ability to code or a painter\u2019s knack at prepping a wall and applying paint cleanly. In general, we\u2019ve found that when skills are standardized, they are more likely to be threatened by automation or AI. <\/p>\n

The second component of value, though, is separate from skills. It\u2019s the method of delivering a job\u2019s value to someone else, which can also be threatened by new technology. We call this \u201cvalue form.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, while a college professor\u2019s skills and expertise in a particular domain may not be under immediate threat, the form in which their value is delivered is certainly threatened by online learning platforms<\/a> and the increased use of AI education tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By considering these two threats together, workers can better assess if their jobs are at risk. <\/p>\n

Displaced or durable<\/h2>\n

Our framework has four categories: A job could be displaced, disrupted, deconstructed or durable depending on the level of threat facing its skills and value form. <\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a>
\n This value matrix helps workers assess the threat their occupations face based on the two components of value.<\/span>
\n Latham and Humberd, MIT Sloan Management Review<\/a>, Author provided<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Displaced<\/strong> signifies the jobs that are most in danger. Our analysis shows pharmacists<\/a>, radiologists<\/a> and librarians<\/a> all belong in the displaced category. <\/p>\n

Disrupted<\/strong> means the skills are highly threatened, but people desire the recognized or current method of delivery, which often involves a human interaction. Examples include fast food servers, accountants<\/a> and real estate agents. <\/p>\n

Deconstructed<\/strong> flips those two around: The skills are hardly standardized but automation poses a serious threat to how the job\u2019s value is delivered. Photographers, college professors and livery drivers are in this category. <\/p>\n

Durable<\/strong> jobs are the safest ones because both the skills and the value form are difficult or costly to automate. Lucky workers in this category include electricians, plumbers and physician assistants. <\/p>\n

What we learn from value<\/h2>\n

In some ways, the value framework confirms what others have found. <\/p>\n

For example, no one would have argued that shelf stockers at big box retailers like Walmart would be a safe job for years to come \u2013 as the retailer\u2019s announcement confirms. Putting them in our framework, their primary skills of keeping inventory stocked and shelves clean are severely threatened because they are standardized and routine. <\/p>\n

Furthermore, robots can deliver more value through automated transmission of inventory information. Thus, our model shows these workers will most likely be displaced. <\/p>\n

However, our focus on value suggests that other predictions based merely on categories of at-risk jobs may be missing the mark. For example, some people predict<\/a> many jobs are threatened simply because they are routine, non-college-educated or blue-collar, like plumbers, electricians and hospice workers. Yet, rewiring an electrical system in a historic home or caring for a hospice patient are nonstandard jobs that require a human to create and deliver value, which is why these jobs can be quite durable.<\/p>\n

What workers can do<\/h2>\n

Once workers understand the value they create and the threat automation poses to their skills and value form, what actions can they take? <\/p>\n

The common answer they\u2019ve been given thus far involves encouraging them to engage in lifelong learning<\/a>. But a focus on value the way our model does provides much more nuanced guidance. <\/p>\n

Workers in deconstructed jobs, for example, don\u2019t need new skills. They just need to learn to adapt existing skills to new forms of delivery. Conversely, workers in disrupted jobs need training to work alongside robots and AI systems during periods of transition.<\/p>\n

And even if displaced workers \u2013 a fate that is likely to be on the horizon for Walmart\u2019s shelf stockers \u2013 need to consider retraining, the traditional higher education system is not well suited<\/a> for the future of work. Universities focus on the longer-term bachelor\u2019s-to-master\u2019s pathway. Rather, individuals need access to quick, modular and adaptable pathways to new jobs. <\/p>\n

The 48-year-old parent who just lost his job as an accountant is not able to begin a new four-year degree program. But a three-month program to earn a cybersecurity certificate would be doable and all he needs. <\/p>\n

The future of work is already here. Days after Walmart\u2019s announcement, workers at Stop & Shop, a large regional grocery chain in the Boston area, are striking<\/a> over increased automation. But we have time. Let\u2019s worry less about robots and AI itself and more about the value workers can create in different jobs in a landscape that will continue to change for years to come. Value is the only constant.\"The<\/p>\n

Beth Humberd<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Management, University of Massachusetts Lowell<\/a><\/em> and Scott F. Latham<\/a>, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, University of Massachusetts Lowell<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beth Humberd, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Scott F. Latham, University of Massachusetts Lowell Walmart recently said it plans to deploy robots to scan shelves, scrub floors and perform other mundane tasks in its stores as the retail giant seeks to lower labor costs. While the retail giant did not say which jobs, if any, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":16066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[277],"tags":[401,172,3066,725,679,255,3019,3828,509,4542],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16068"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16069,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16068\/revisions\/16069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}