Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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wjfox
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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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BT to cut up to 55,000 jobs by end of decade

20 minutes ago

Telecoms giant BT is to cut up to 55,000 jobs in the UK and globally by the end of the decade as it cuts costs.

The headcount reduction, which will be up to 40% of the current workforce of 130,000 includes staff and contractors.

It comes after Vodafone would axe a tenth of its staff over the next three years, equating to 11,000 jobs.

[...]

As the network moves away from copper to fibre, it will become more reliable, and need fewer people to maintain both networks.

And newer, more efficient technology, including artificial intelligence, will mean fewer people will be needed to serve customers.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65631168


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Ozzie guy
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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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US Employment Rate
In January 60.20%
In February 60.20%
In March 60.40%
In April 60.40%


Australia Employment Rate
In January 64.1%
In February 64.3%
In March 64.4%
In April 64.2%




I am starting from January 2023 so each time a year passes I can replace months for that year with the yearly average. It is also after covid recovery and before AI has any impact. (I might later include a yearly average for a year such as 2022 or 2019 if technological unemployment happens this year.)

Lowest US has been since 1948 aka covid crash is 51.30

So low 50s = $hit hitting the fan.
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wjfox
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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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I don't think you can extrapolate a trend from only four months of data.

If we go back to 1980, the trend is a lot clearer. I will update this graph at some point. :)


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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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wjfox wrote: Thu May 18, 2023 12:39 pm I don't think you can extrapolate a trend from only four months of data.

If we go back to 1980, the trend is a lot clearer. I will update this graph at some point. :)


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It is a monthly post I have been doing I guess with the assumption that things might get crazy soon and it forces me to pay attention.

I sometimes watch the futurist Kartic Gada who I think you also watch. He does various graphs, trends etc which I think motivated me a bit to keep a tab on it.
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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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Eating Disorder Helpline Fires Staff, Transitions to Chatbot After Unionization

25 May 2023, 5:52pm

Executives at the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) decided to replace hotline workers with a chatbot named Tessa four days after the workers unionized.

NEDA, the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to eating disorders, has had a helpline for the last twenty years that provided support to hundreds of thousands of people via chat, phone call, and text. “NEDA claims this was a long-anticipated change and that AI can better serve those with eating disorders. But do not be fooled—this isn’t really about a chatbot. This is about union busting, plain and simple,” helpline associate and union member Abbie Harper wrote in a blog post.

According to Harper, the helpline is composed of six paid staffers, a couple of supervisors, and up to 200 volunteers at any given time. A group of four full-time workers at NEDA, including Harper, decided to unionize because they felt overwhelmed and understaffed.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7ezkm/ ... ionization
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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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It's becoming clear that AI is going to whack the mediocre middle of office workers

Matt Turner
Jun 2, 2023, 12:45 PM BST

"Mediocrity will be automated."

That was the verdict a top tech executive shared with me recently, describing the impact he predicted AI would have on the workforce. And while the phrasing might seem a bit harsh, there's growing evidence that he might be on to something.

More specifically, AI could disproportionately impact the middle class of white-collar workers — the folks who are mid-career, mid-ability, mid-level, and yes, in some cases, mediocre. Here's why:

https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-arti ... ?r=US&IR=T
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IBM plans to replace 7,800 jobs with AI over time, pauses hiring certain positions
https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... ced-by-ai/
"IBM Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna has revealed plans to pause hiring for about 7,800 positions that could be replaced by artificial intelligence systems over time, according to a Bloomberg news report published Monday.

Krishna said that hiring in back-office functions like human resources will be suspended or slowed, affecting roughly 26,000 non-customer-facing roles. That will include not replacing current roles vacated by attrition. "I could easily see 30 percent of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period," Bloomberg quoted Krisha as saying in an interview.

The announcement comes at a time when generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT have stirred anxiety about the future of human jobs. In March, Goldman Sachs released a report estimating that generative AI may "expose" 300 million jobs to automation, which means those roles might be reduced or replaced by AI systems."
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IMF warns of rise in technological unemployment
(Reuters) - IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath has warned of "substantial disruptions in labour markets" stemming from generative artificial intelligence and called on policymakers to quickly craft rules to govern the technology, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

"We need governments, we need institutions and we need policymakers to move quickly on all fronts, in terms of regulation, but also in terms of preparing for probably substantial disruptions in labour markets," Gopinath said in an interview to FT.

She also advocated for governments to bolster "social safety nets" for workers affected by the adoption of AI, while working on tax policies that do not reward companies replacing employees with machines.

Gopinath cautioned policymakers to be careful in case some corporations emerge with an unassailable position in the new technology.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/imfs ... 21573.html
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Re: Technological Unemployment News & Discussions

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AI eliminated nearly 4,000 jobs in May, report says
For those wondering when AI will start replacing human jobs, the answer is it already has.

Artificial intelligence contributed to nearly 4,000 job losses last month, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as interest in the rapidly evolving technology's ability to perform advanced organizational tasks and lighten workloads has intensified.

The report released Thursday by the outplacement firm shows that layoff announcements from U.S.-based employers reached more than 80,000 in May — a 20% jump from the prior month and nearly four times the level for the same month last year. Of those cuts, AI was responsible for 3,900, or roughly 5% of all jobs lost, making it the seventh-highest contributor to employment losses in May cited by employers.

The job cuts come as businesses waste no time adopting advanced AI technology to automate a range of tasks — including creative work, such as writing, as well as administrative and clerical work. The AI industry is expected to grow to more than $1 trillion fueled by major technological advancements that became apparent last fall with the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT bot, a report by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts shows.
Read more here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-job-los ... er-report/
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