National Bureau of Economic Research of the United States published a report according to which every industrial robot in operation from 1990 to 2007 has become a cause for reduction of 6.2 jobs. The authors of the report, economists Dero Akemoglu MIT and Pascal Restrepo from Boston University, also found that wages of US workers gradually decreased due to the introduction of robots in manufacturing. Then, as the plant appear at least one robot fund wages fell by 0.25-0.5% per 1,000 employees, reported Recode. For the period (17 years), robots have taken 670,000 manufacturing jobs in the US, and in the coming years, with increasing automation, this number will increase, the study said.
The figures cited in the report may seem modest, but it should be borne in mind that the authors have used a narrower definition of robot borrowed from the International Federation of Robotics: robot - it is automatic controlled, reprogrammable and multifunctional machine. This means that the algorithms used for automation of trade and financial sphere or offices, as well as conveyors or robots baristas not came under the attention of researchers.
As for the outlook, the authors of the report agree with the assessment of experts from the Boston Consulting Group - the number of industrial robots by 2025 will increase 4 times. Well, at least 3, more modest scenario. If the data of the report correctly reflect the trend, the more robots appear in the proceedings, the more workers will lose their jobs. More people will lose their livelihoods, and that means it will be necessary retraining programs, subsidies or the introduction of basic income base.
