Unemployment is low and wages are rising—so employers are turning to robots to fill job vacancies.
Some background: In the US labor market, humans are getting harder to find—unemployment is holding steady below four percent—and that’s making them more expensive. Robots are making more economic sense than ever.
The result: Some industries have been hit harder by the labor shortage than others. David Maletto, who runs a small packaging company in Wisconsin, feels the pinch keenly. “We have customers continually coming to us and they’re needing packaging done, and we’ll have to say, ‘We can’t do that for you,” Maletto told the New York Times. He’s taken out a $1 million loan to invest in automation.
The impact: Job openings in the hospitality industry hit a record high in April. “I’ve never seen the labor market this tight,” Scott Murphy, chief operating officer for Dunkin’ Donuts US, told the Wall Street Journal. “We spend a lot of time training people and a month later they walk out the door.” Robots are still limited in the food prep tasks they can complete, but more businesses are willing to give them a try. Flippy, the burger flipping robot, for example, will be filling roles in 10 CaliBurger restaurants by the end of the year.
SOURCE: MIT DOWNLOAD
Some background: In the US labor market, humans are getting harder to find—unemployment is holding steady below four percent—and that’s making them more expensive. Robots are making more economic sense than ever.
The result: Some industries have been hit harder by the labor shortage than others. David Maletto, who runs a small packaging company in Wisconsin, feels the pinch keenly. “We have customers continually coming to us and they’re needing packaging done, and we’ll have to say, ‘We can’t do that for you,” Maletto told the New York Times. He’s taken out a $1 million loan to invest in automation.
The impact: Job openings in the hospitality industry hit a record high in April. “I’ve never seen the labor market this tight,” Scott Murphy, chief operating officer for Dunkin’ Donuts US, told the Wall Street Journal. “We spend a lot of time training people and a month later they walk out the door.” Robots are still limited in the food prep tasks they can complete, but more businesses are willing to give them a try. Flippy, the burger flipping robot, for example, will be filling roles in 10 CaliBurger restaurants by the end of the year.
SOURCE: MIT DOWNLOAD
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