Study: Switch to automation could leave some behind

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As manufacturers turn to automation, a study of three cities, including Columbia, concluded that some demographics of workers face an uncertain future but stressed that civic leaders can help.

The report, Future of Work: The Effects of Job Automation on African-American and Latino Workers in Three Cities, by the African American Mayors Association, concludes that minority workers will lose their jobs faster than white workers.

Columbia was one of the three local economies studied, along with Gary, Ind., and Long Beach, Calif. The study said mayors are in a position to encourage local schools and government officials to provide education and training opportunities to ensure that workers are prepared through workforce development programs to withstand manufacturing job cuts as a result of automation. With their familiarity with local resources, mayors can be at the forefront of local workforce preparation, the study said.

“What we have discovered through this is that research has the power to transform the American economy, and in particular, to revitalize black and brown communities and prepare an entire generation for the work of the future,” Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin said. “The jobs that are easiest to automate is one challenge that disproportionately affects our citizens of color.”

Benjamin said one way to address that challenge is to make sure “all our citizens” take advantage of technical education programs in the Midlands.

The mayors association report found that as many as 68 million jobs, or 47%, “will be lost to automation in the upcoming decades” and that “job loss will be unequally distributed, affecting individuals with lower levels of education and African-American and Latino populations with greater severity.”

“Job loss due to automation will have unequal effects across racial and ethnic groups because educational attainment as well as the occupational distribution of workers varies by race and ethnicity,” the report said.

Stephanie Mash Sykes, executive director and general counsel of AAMA, said it’s important that the organization’s members be leaders in developing solutions to challenges she said have a disproportionate impact on black and Latino workers. Preparing workers for other opportunities when automation takes over manufacturing should be now, she said, rather than waiting until it happens.

“I think the important takeaway here is that all populations will be impacted — all races, all demographics,” she said. “But we also want employers and industry to understand some demographics will be impacted more than others. And so when there are apprenticeships or training opportunities, (we need to be) making sure that they are equitable and inclusive of populations that are historically least-performing in math and sciences or don’t have access to opportunity or don’t have broadband in their home.”

Sykes said Columbia’s online educational programming, library system and universities, colleges and trade schools can contribute to preparing the entire workforce for changes in manufacturing from automation. However, she said there still are a lot of things that can’t be predicted.

“There’s the displacement model which says all the jobs will be gone, and there’s the replacement model that says we don’t know what additional jobs will be created,” she said. “The internet created lots of jobs. They will be higher-skill jobs, so there will still be opportunities. … I think all companies need to be thinking about how they’re reinvesting in our workers for the long term and not just for the skills for today, but partnering globally to really understand, from a data-based perspective, what jobs will be needed in the future.”

Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, doesn’t think one demographic of the manufacturing workforce will be adversely affected more than another as more companies automate operations.

“That somehow assumes that any part of our society has less chance for opportunities than any others. And that’s not what manufacturing is about,” Timmons said. “The great thing about manufacturing is that we’re very diverse in terms of gender, in terms of race, in terms of physical abilities, in terms of orientation and gender identity.”

Timmons said the biggest industry change will not be in the loss of jobs but in the kind of jobs that are available, which he called a warning flag for everybody.

“If robotics replaced menial labor that is particularly physical demanding, you still need people to operate those robotics,” he said. “You still need people who are going to, not only create and design and build them, but also maintain them. The types of jobs are changing. And that’s on our back as businesses. We have to be willing to train and upscale our workforce so that we don’t have issues where people who want to work can’t because they don’t have right skills.”

One solution Benjamin suggested is that workers receive free education or be paid to receive training. He said many workers in Columbia struggle to make ends meet and don’t have time or money for education. He said some teens are forced to work to contribute to household expenses and can’t afford to or don’t have time to take advantage of educational opportunities.

Benjamin said employers should be encouraged to invest in their employees. One way to do that is by changing the tax code so that investing in human capital earns the same tax breaks as investing in machinery and facilities, he said.

“We have a number of different tools in our United States code and in our tax code that benefit employers who invest in equipment, but not enough tools to advantage employers who invest in human capital,” Benjamin said. “And finding some ways to have favorable tax treatment for employers who invest in preparing their workforce for the future of work is something that I think we also should be considering.”

The findings of the report were discussed at Harvard Law School in September. The AAMA is using the study to determine plans of action.

“I was very much encouraged by the fact that we do have existing programs in place that are strong and working and viable, and now the greater need is just us connecting our citizens with the resources in a meaningful way,” Benjamin said. “I’m very encouraged by that. Having an independent deep dive into our local data left me encouraged. We just have to be innovative and thoughtful in closing those gaps.”

This story originally appeared in the Nov. 18, 2019, print edition of the Columbia Regional Business Report.