All of a sudden, front line workers are being treated as the heroes of this pandemic and that is only fair. Bus drivers, grocery workers, cleaners, meat plant employees – all of these people jobs that need doing and they put themselves at risk in the process. In acknowledgement of that, many employers are boosting their pay and bonuses in a bid to reward them for what they are doing and indeed to make sure they stay on the job. Longer term, however, the result of the pandemic may be that these same workers do not get paid at all, but rather get pink slips. After all, even before the pandemic there was a push to use automation more effectively and perhaps to replace some job functions in the process. That surely could have some huge positives, in that it could safeguard human beings from tasks that are likely to put them in danger. The downside of this, however, could be a spike in unemployment and a long-term fall in wages for the replaced workers. To talk about where we are in the automation process, on this episode of Work and the Future we are joined by two guests...
Episode 2: How Is the Pandemic Changing the Race to Automate? | A podcast about work, the future and how they will go together - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
