4 Million Driving Jobs at Risk from Autonomous Vehicles: Report

By | March 27, 2017

  • March 27, 2017 at 9:30 am
    ExciteBiker says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 11
    Thumb down 2

    Not to worry, I’m sure the administration has plans to combat this, big league.

    the newly minted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that there was no need to worry about artificial intelligence taking over U.S. jobs anytime soon. “It’s not even on our radar screen,”

    …….oh.

  • March 27, 2017 at 1:29 pm
    Mark says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 3
    Thumb down 0

    Wonder if Uber drivers know they are being replaced. Guess this will fix the workcomp problem.

  • March 27, 2017 at 1:57 pm
    wayne smith says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 7
    Thumb down 5

    And the point is? ATMs put bank tellers out of business, but the world is a better place because of it.

    Microsoft Windows put many humans out of business that used to do things by hand calculations, but the automation has made the world a better and more productive place.

    Cars put buggy makers out of business…

    Progress marches on.

    • March 27, 2017 at 3:05 pm
      ExciteBiker says:
      Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
      Thumb up 15
      Thumb down 3

      What does society look like in a consumer-driven economy when there are no longer any jobs?

      We’re not just talking about a single innovation in a sector like the calculator, the spreadsheet or the buggy whip. We are talking about the potential wholesale automation of huge swaths of the economy across all industries resulting in the potential obsolescence of tens of millions of jobs– manufacturing, logistics, drivers, financial sector, medical, food service, military, you name it.

      What does society look like if 80% of its inhabitants are economically irrelevant?

      • March 27, 2017 at 3:15 pm
        RainyDayInterns says:
        Like or Dislike:
        Thumb up 3
        Thumb down 2

        Probably exactly what happened to all those telephone switchboard operators which were once employed by the phone company….

      • March 27, 2017 at 4:17 pm
        Agent says:
        Like or Dislike:
        Thumb up 3
        Thumb down 6

        Well, we already have 95 million eligible workers sitting on the sideline. Why not shoot for 300 million? We can all be George Jetson’s.

      • March 28, 2017 at 8:19 am
        OmniSure says:
        Like or Dislike:
        Thumb up 5
        Thumb down 4

        Your question is: What does society look like if 80% of its inhabitants are economically irrelevant?

        The ANSWER: A Socialist society, dependent upon THE GOVERNMENT for its sustenance ie: LIBERAL/DEMOCRATS will be the ONLY Political Party as those with no jobs or inclination to obtain one, will relay on voting DEMOCRAT for their Government Dole.

    • March 28, 2017 at 8:57 am
      Ron says:
      Like or Dislike:
      Thumb up 3
      Thumb down 2

      wayne smith,

      Thank you for listing several additional reasons why jobs did not return as quickly during the recovery from the 2008 collapse as they had in previous recoveries. This also explains part of the reason,along with record retirements, for the low LPR.

      I will be interested to see how our right wing friends will make excuses if the LPR does not increase significantly over the next few years. Will it still be President Obama’s fault?

  • March 27, 2017 at 3:21 pm
    MGrisales says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 6
    Thumb down 0

    The discussion shouldn’t be about jobs that are to be extinct but to be created. It’s like complaining that robots are assembling cars instead of humans. World is changing therefore new careers, jobs, services have to emerge from that.

  • March 27, 2017 at 3:23 pm
    MGrisales says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 1
    Thumb down 0

    The discussion shouldn’t be about jobs that are about to be extinct, but to be created. World is changing (no news at all), new jobs, careers, services and industries need to emerge from that. Is like complaining that robot are assembling cars instead of humans.

  • March 27, 2017 at 3:35 pm
    Sue says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    One point is this: if this issue is not currently on the radar of the states or federal government, a whole bunch of workers will be unqualified to find jobs in the market without retraining and significant unemployment compensation.

    Another point: Most of the trucking operations today have union (Teamster) drivers. The current pension plans, with let’s say 1-2 million workers contributing to the pension plan, cannot sustain itself. I believe the most recent ratio I saw was 3 retirees to every 1 current driver. They’ve already approached the US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp to assist in lowering the pension levels of existing retirees.

    When all these drivers go away, and all the retirees take a huge haircut in their pensions because no one is paying into it any longer, the US will have to bail them out, and these retirees will still not get what they were getting before because it’s not set up to pay a dollar for a dollar.

    And that doesn’t even take into account the “end of career” WC injuries that many Teamster drivers are *unlucky* enough to have. Most of the employers & insurance carriers have in place very large deductible plans with $500K- $1 million deductibles. So in addition to having to outfit their trucks with self driving mechanisms or buy new trucks, they’ll be spending their money on these WC claims.

    There is no light at the end of the tunnel other than on oncoming train that is being driven by a computer.

  • March 27, 2017 at 7:18 pm
    Hmmmmm says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 1
    Thumb down 0

    Many auto workers were replaced by machines. Education is even more critical now. Job skills need to be able to change as our world changes.

  • March 27, 2017 at 9:03 pm
    jay says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 3
    Thumb down 0

    The Insurance and The Real Estate Men are next.

  • March 28, 2017 at 1:49 pm
    Captain Planet says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 2
    Thumb down 2

    Roughly 50% of all US jobs will be lost to automation in the next 10-20 years. Time for job innovation, not simply job creation.

  • March 29, 2017 at 9:08 am
    CL PM says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 3
    Thumb down 0

    Interesting article that generates much discussion, but I’m not sure I believe in the predictions. Do we think as a society we are ready to allow 80,000 pound trucks to drive down the freeway at 70MPH with only a computer to control them? Computers can be hacked, wiring can fail, computer chips can malfunction. I don’t see us allowing no driver in semi trucks driving through cities. Also, is the computer driving the UPS or FedEx truck going to jump out of the truck with one envelope to put it on my doorstep? I don’t see requiring every address in the U.S. to have a box at the curb for a robot to deliver a package. Who is going to pay for all of those boxes? Or, will everyone be forced to go to a central delivery point for packages in their neighborhood? Who is going to pay to build all those facilities? Bottom line, there is a lot to figure out here and any impact to driving jobs will be very gradual over a long period of time.

    • March 29, 2017 at 1:28 pm
      Captain Planet says:
      Like or Dislike:
      Thumb up 1
      Thumb down 0

      CL PM,
      Not only can we as a society allow this to happen, they are already on the interstates and highways as I type. By the year 2020, the commercial trucking industry will largely be based in autonomous vehicles. Companies may still pay small wages to have someone in the truck simply for delivery purposes. The trucking industry is about to be flipped.

    • March 30, 2017 at 9:42 am
      Jocom says:
      Like or Dislike:
      Thumb up 0
      Thumb down 1

      While computers that control automobiles could be hacked, it’s not much different than a person falling asleep at the wheel, drinking and driving, texting and driving, rubbernecking at an accident, etc. There are dangers with both sides of the issue.

    • March 30, 2017 at 10:18 am
      Confused says:
      Like or Dislike:
      Thumb up 1
      Thumb down 0

      CL PM – I would rather have an autonomous truck driver on the road over someone driving cross-country under the influence of LSD, crystal meth & cocaine (which literally just happened the other day).

  • February 26, 2018 at 11:22 pm
    Lisa says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 1

    I’m a food delivery driver. I deliver take-out food in Brooklyn to supplement my social security income. I have worked hard all my life, as a working writer who has needed second jobs to pay the bills. I’m sixty-seven years old and actually love delivering food and if I stay healthy I would like to keep doing it as long as possible, but of course I am concerned about driverless cars eliminating my job — I don’t know how I’ll make ends meet if that happens any time soon. To read comments that basically say, hey that’s progress, too bad, cars put buggy makers out of business etc etc — I mean, why are you even commenting? Is it to say, I don’t really give a rat’s ass about all these people losing their jobs? You’re right that this is the way the cookie crumbles but your comments are mean and we really don’t need more meanness in this world right now. Maybe you’re just miserable yourself so you don’t have any room for compassion, but if that’s the case, why go online and act like an SOB? How about shutting up? You’d do everyone a favor.



Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*