By Invoice Studebaker, CIO & President, ROBO International

There is no such thing as a query that the pandemic-fueled labor scarcity is an issue. When enhanced unemployment advantages within the US ended earlier this month, many companies regarded ahead to a reversal within the job market as job seekers flooded the labor market. To this point, that hasn’t occurred. As an alternative, staff are quitting their jobs in droves, and an absence of enthusiastic replacements has companies struggling to ramp up the whole lot from manufacturing manufacturing to fast-food service.

The apparent answer is automation. However at the same time as companies flip to automation to unravel this lingering symptom of COVID and mend their ailing provide chains, it’s clear that this isn’t a singular situation. Analysis has discovered that it’s widespread for automation to speed up throughout weak financial durations. The explanation: weak point in revenues ends in people changing into comparatively dearer than automated alternate options—aka robots. Fortunately, this time round, the robots are prepared. In 2021, automation and synthetic intelligence exited the laboratory and moved straight into the establishments that drive our international financial system.

That actuality begs the query for buyers: Is your portfolio prepared?

The trajectory of automation is simple, however what’s so thrilling about this revolution is that it’s a lot totally different in scale, scope, and complexity than we’ve seen throughout another technological period. Based on economist Joseph Schumpeter, what we’re seeing at this time is a standard step in what he calls “artistic destruction”—a cycle of commercial change during which outdated financial buildings are repeatedly destroyed and new ones are created. It’s a cycle that continually pushes ahead as the price financial savings generated from every new wave of automation are used to gasoline new markets and allow new applied sciences. That cycle is accelerated at this time due to a variety of latest applied sciences which might be fusing the bodily and digital worlds and affecting disciplines and economies across the globe. One of many largest shifts is that, for the primary time within the historical past of automation, new expertise isn’t changing folks, however empowering them to work quicker and extra effectively than ever. 

That’s to not recommend that the advantages of automation gained’t affect employment. The query is how. Whereas the connection between financial progress and jobs is a difficult one, it’s typically true that when unemployment is up, progress and inventory costs are down. So, does it make sense to spend money on a sector that’s ‘killing jobs’? Based mostly on the worth automation is bringing to enterprise at this time, there isn’t any doubt that investing within the sector is a sensible transfer. automation’s affect on jobs, the reply can be ‘sure’—largely as a result of jobs are being affected a lot in another way than many individuals suppose.

Contemplate this: Nearly a decade in the past, Oxford College researchers predicted that as many as 47% of US jobs might be ‘automated away’ by 2025. With simply 4 years to go earlier than that fateful date, it’s clear that the robots which might be supposedly poised to steal our jobs are doing a fairly dangerous job of it! Placing the Oxford prediction into context in at this time’s world, there are at present about 160 million jobs within the US workforce. If the Oxford prediction had been to play out as anticipated, round 75 million of these jobs can be eradicated within the subsequent 4 years. Increasing that calculation throughout the G7 industrialized geography, the numbers develop to incorporate roughly 368 million present jobs, of which 173 million jobs can be eradicated. In idea. Clearly, the Oxford speculation and lots of others prefer it usually are not holding true. Whereas it’s straightforward to see automation and expertise as job destroyers, each main expertise shift all through historical past has led to not job elimination, however to job creation. It’s additionally true that automation is releasing up human staff to give attention to extra value-added duties than the customarily boring, soiled, and harmful work the robots are taking over. Will some jobs be ‘automated away’? Completely. However way more jobs will likely be enhanced and, in time, hundreds of thousands extra will likely be created—driving future employment up, not down.

The COVID labor scarcity has spotlighted the necessity for automation to enhance operations and improve enterprise progress. Now, greater than ever, it’s clear that superior robotics and AI applied sciences are enabling the way forward for enterprise. The robots usually are not coming—they’re right here. We’re assembly with a rising variety of corporations which might be motivated to tug outsourced processes and information again in-house to regain management over prices, high quality, and output utilizing manufacturing facility robots and different types of automation. These companies are shifting their focus to the place issues are being executed, and they’re adopting automation to assist optimize processes and cut back the danger of human error. We’re additionally seeing that the gross sales of services produced by automation are vastly extra reasonably priced and of a lot increased high quality than these produced manually. All over the place we glance, automation is surging.

In a post-pandemic world, automation helps particular person corporations and the worldwide financial system transfer from stall to increase mode. We created the primary robotics and automation index (ROBO) over 8 years in the past to capitalize on this revolution. As we witness the momentous shifts which might be taking place at this time, we imagine extra strongly than ever that robotics, automation, and AI are among the many most investable themes. Two years in the past, we expanded our choices for buyers in search of to focus on particular areas inside that theme, introducing the ROBO International Synthetic Intelligence Index (THNQ) and the ROBO International Healthcare Expertise and Innovation Index (HTEC). Make no mistake about it: the robots are right here. ROBO International makes it straightforward to spend money on the businesses which might be driving the robotic revolution. Now’s the time to spend money on the rise of the robots and reap the rewards to return.