Man Vs. Machine: How It's Negatively Impacting The U.S. Workforce
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--Big names such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have all predicted a robot takeover in the jobs sector, that is.
Now a new study, not only backs this up, but warns of the possible negative impacts.
They are the coworker that's never late, never asks for a raise and never ever slacks off. Who wouldn't be intimidated?
"This technology that is happening will be taking jobs!" said one woman.
They already are. 6.2 jobs lost for every robot introduced to the workforce, according to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Between 1990 and 2007, the study credits robots with the loss of 670,000 manufacturing jobs and suggests that number could quadruple by 2025.
"The reality is that this has been going on since the dawn of the industrial revolution," said Joel Naroff , president of Naroff Economic Advisors.
He says that while manufacturing has taken the initial robotic hit, other fields are vulnerable.
"It's just that technology is changing so rapidly the ability to replace workers in certain kinds of jobs in certain kinds of industries is accelerating," said Naroff.
So what's left for us humans?
"It could still bring new jobs couldn't it? Different kinds of jobs," one man suggests.
"George Jetson still had a job even though it was well into the future," Naroff laughs.
Naroff says that moving from a lost industry to a more innovative can be tough but adds that robots need maintenance and unlike machines--humans have a history of adapting.