Robots and the Job Market

In the first half of the 20^th cen­tu­ry, humans saw robots tak­ing over the world in sci­ence fic­tion lit­er­a­ture and B‑movies. Then, toward the end of the 20^th cen­tu­ry, as indus­tri­al robots began to rise in pop­u­lar­i­ty, humans were con­cerned that they would take over the job mar­ket. How­ev­er, indus­tri­al robots are not going to ​“take over” all of the jobs, as human work­ers fear. Instead, they are going to take over less desir­able jobs for work­ers, as well as fill­ing in the gaps where no skilled work­ers are avail­able for hire.

In the 1980s, indus­tri­al robots began to come on the scene more heav­i­ly, espe­cial­ly in man­u­fac­tur­ing mar­kets. These robots took over jobs like pack­ag­ing and pal­letiz­ing, which could be tedious and dull for work­ers. Robot­ic sys­tems also took over jobs like paint­ing and mate­r­i­al removal, where fumes and par­ti­cles could cause health haz­ards for human work­ers. These work­ers were moved behind the robots, where they can learn to become a robot oper­a­tor, a more mar­ketable skill they would not have had pri­or to integration.

Robots are also fill­ing the holes that are cur­rent­ly in the job mar­ket in cer­tain loca­tions around the world. Because of the boost in ser­vice jobs, man­u­fac­tur­ing does not hold the same regard that it once did. This has caused gaps around the world for man­u­fac­tur­ing com­pa­nies that need skilled welders and oth­er work­ers. These com­pa­nies can invest in robot sys­tems to per­form these jobs, which helps when there are not qual­i­fied hires for the job.

Over­all, robots are not here to take over and leave humans job­less. Instead, they are here to improve the work­ing con­di­tions for indus­tri­al work­ers and give them new skills, while also help­ing man­u­fac­tur­ers fill posi­tions that are vacant.

Are you inter­est­ed in learn­ing more about robots and the jobs that they can per­form? Then you should call Robots​.com, a lead­ing inte­gra­tor for com­pa­nies like Fanuc, Motoman, KUKA, Uni­ver­sal Robots, and ABB. Our staff will work with you from the ini­tial con­sul­ta­tion all the way through inte­gra­tion of the sys­tem into your fac­to­ry. Robots​.com is ded­i­cat­ed to ensur­ing the cus­tomers are sat­is­fied with their sys­tems and that they return for new automa­tion projects.

For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact Robots​.com today online or at 877−762−6881.