Machines will create 58 million more jobs than they displace by 2022, group says

In the next four years more than 75 million jobs may be lost as companies shift to more automation, according to new estimates by the World Economic Forum. But the same projections have an upside: 133 million new jobs will emerge during the same time period, as businesses develop a new division of labor between people and machines.

The Future of Jobs Report arrives as the rising tide of automation is expected to displace millions of American workers in the long term and as corporations, educational institutions and elected officials grapple with a global technological shift that may leave many people behind. The report, published Monday, envisions massive changes in the worldwide workforce as businesses expand the use of artificial intelligence and automation in their operations. Machines account for 29 percent of the total hours worked in major industries, compared with 71 percent performed by people. By 2022, however, the report predicts that 42 percent of task hours will be performed by machines and 58 percent by people.

Previous research offers mixed forecasts on the effects of automation on jobs. It’s unclear if the new jobs created by innovative combinations of automation and human workers will offset the displacements. But the World Economic Forum report confirms that a key challenge for grappling with the future of work will be equipping staff with new skills and fostering workplace flexibility.

“To prevent an undesirable lose-lose scenario - technological change accompanied by talent shortages, mass unemployment and growing inequality - it is critical that businesses take an active role in supporting their existing workforces through reskilling and upskilling, that individuals take a proactive approach to their own lifelong learning and that governments create an enabling environment, rapidly and creatively, to assist in these efforts,” the report said.

The report’s projections mainly represent roles gained and lost within large multinational corporations. Another analysis that focuses on small and medium-sized business or certain sectors, such as health care and education, may show greater potential for new jobs, according to the report.

The report said that technological advances in four areas - the spread of high-speed mobile Internet, artificial intelligence, the adoption of big data analytics and cloud computing - are expected to drive business growth for the next four years. These tech developments, according to the report, will arrive in tandem with broader socioeconomic trends, such as the expansion of the middle class in developing countries, national economic growth and new energy policies.

But other social and political trends may hurt business prospects, the report said. Those factors include heightened protectionism, the effects of climate change, cybersecurity threats and increasingly aging societies.

The World Economic Forum compiled the report by surveying 313 business executives who together represent 15 million employees from around the world.

By Hamza Shaban The Washington Post

Efforts to Diversify Economy Continue

One effort focuses on making the Houma-Terrebonne Airport a hub for unmanned aircraft.

Recent studies have shown that for Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes to boost their economies, they should diversify their economies so they are less reliant on the oil industry.

But complete diversification isn’t going to happen overnight, Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Matt Rookard said.

TEDA hired Garner Economics to study the local economy in 2016. The report suggests one resource with potential is the Houma-Terrebonne Airport.

As a result, TEDA is partnering with Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Fletcher Technical Community College in Schriever and the airport to bring an unmanned aviation system to Terrebonne Parish.

TEDA is working to create a public-private partnership for research and development on how to bring this new technology to the parish, Rookard said.

Contrary to the popular concept of smaller, almost-hand-held-size drones, these unmanned aircraft are more like full-size helicopters without pilots, he said.

This kind of technology is mainly used for military purposes but has applications in commercial industries like oil and gas.

Once formed, the public-private partnership will seek research dollars to fund the program.

“Take a sector with an existing strength and within that identify a specialty. If you invest heavily into technology, you end up with a new specialty within that industry,” Rookard said. “Then you can look at applying that to other industries.”

Terrebonne’s existing strength is the oil industry, specializing in logistics. By investing heavily into unmanned aviation systems that can be used in that field, the technology can later expand into other industries, such as coastal restoration, Rookard said. Insurance companies can use unmanned aircraft to assess damage after storms.

“These things don’t exist as we sit here today, but if you can deploy that technology, there’s opportunity to create them,” he said.

In December, representatives of TEDA, Nicholls, Fletcher and the airport traveled to the University of North Dakota to get an inside look at its unmanned aircraft program and explore a possible partnership, Rookard said.

Right now, the group is looking for funding.

The airport has committed some funds to make infrastructure upgrades but in order to get approval from the Federal Aviation Authority, more work is needed.

TEDA has also been working on scholarship programs for minority-owned contracting businesses to receive accreditation training to compete for local construction jobs.

“A lot of these contracts go to the same people over and over because there’s only so many qualified companies,” Rookard said.

The agency is also working with the Entergy workforce-development program to train students for jobs utility companies are looking to fill.

TEDA will present other diversification and economic-development plans later this month to the Terrebonne Parish Council, Rookard said. He declined to comment on specifics.

-- Staff Writer Julia Arenstam can be reached at 448-7636 orjulia.arenstam@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @gingerale214.