Adventures in HousingI've Always Wondered ...My EconomyTrump's Second Term

Loading...

0:00
0% played
Stories Tagged as

Automation

Port automation is a sticking point for dockworkers union

by Henry Epp
Jan 2, 2025
Longshoremen are trying to prevent the adoption of technology that could eliminate jobs. That transition has been underway in other countries.
Port automation has become more common globally in recent years. But the International Longshoremen’s Association does not want ports to adopt technology that could eliminate jobs. 
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Where did all the manufacturing workers go?

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Dec 16, 2024
Millions of workers lost their jobs in manufacturing. Many never returned to the labor force.
"I think the bigger adjustment that's happened is for the workers that are entering the labor force, if they see all these changes that we're talking about, they can start college with a different mentality," says Matt Notowidigdo of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Are robots the answer to the shortage of elder care workers?

by Sabri Ben-Achour , Chris Farrell and Alex Schroeder
Nov 28, 2024
A study of Japanese nursing homes found that productivity, quality and quantity of care improved after the adoption of robots.
The International Federation of Robotics says interest in professional service robots is largely driven by staff shortages and lack of applicants.
Ivan Bajic via Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Longshoremen strike for better pay and to stop automation

by Stephanie Hughes
Oct 2, 2024
About a hundred striking longshoremen marched by one of the terminals in the port of Baltimore. Some carried signs that say “machines don’t feed families.”
Longshoremen on strike at the Port of Baltimore on Oct. 1, 2024.
Stephanie Hughes for Marketplace
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Calling customer service? Good luck speaking to a human.

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Sep 23, 2024
To reach a human representative, some companies have started charging a premium. Those unwilling to pay will have to stick with the bots.
One reason companies have replaced human customer service representatives? Bots are cheaper, says Emily Stewart at Business Insider.
Shaun Heasley/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE
"Harlan County, USA"

Why coal mining jobs have disappeared

by David Brancaccio
Aug 19, 2024
Automation in coal mining has increased productivity and reduced employment in the industry.
Automation in coal mining has increased productivity and reduced employment in the industry.
Justin Merriman/Getty Images
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

AI could automate over half of banking jobs

by Stephanie Hughes
Jun 21, 2024
A new report by Citi looks at the financial tasks that will be delegated to AI — and the new ones that will crop up.
One thing AI won’t be as good at as human bankers? Dealing with human customers.
Fly View Productions/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

For public good, not for profit.

Donate

Workers used to earn about two-thirds of the income their labor generates. Now, it's just over half.

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer
Apr 12, 2024
The stat, called labor share of national income, is being squeezed by globalization, declining union membership and automation.
Even though workers' slice of the pie is shrinking, the U.S. economy is growing, so they're getting a smaller slice of a bigger pie.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Thanks to AI, more U.S. workers worry that technology threatens their jobs

by Kimberly Adams
Sep 11, 2023
In the past, technology has displaced jobs but the economy has continually created new ones. Some experts see greater losses this time.
Many college-educated workers are anxious about the potential for their jobs to be automated, a new Gallup poll finds.
Guillaume/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

AI lessons from the telephone operators of the 1920s

by Kai Ryssdal and Livi Burdette
Aug 17, 2023
In the early 20th century, thousands of young women worked as telephone switchboard operators. Automation changed that.
If you were a working woman in the early 20th century, there's a good chance you were a telephone operator — until mechanical switching took over the job.
-/AFP via Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE