Tag: Jobs

Robots Will Continue to ‘Take Jobs,’ and Humans Will Continue to Create More

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robot automation

by Joseph Sunde   Given the breakneck pace of improvements in automation and artificial intelligence, fears about job loss and human obsolescence continue to consume the cultural imagination. The question looms: What is the future of human work in a technological age? Innovators such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates have done their share to affirm the predominant pessimism, painting a grim picture of a future defined by robot overlords and diminishing human contributions. “At least when there’s an evil dictator, that human is going to die,” Musk recently observed. “But for an AI, there will be no death — it would live forever.” The most recent strides and achievements in artificial intelligence are certainly unique in the scope of human history. But as it relates to their impact on the future of human work, the questions have less to do with robotic genius than they do with our faith in human creativity. In a short film from Freethink, we get a helpful reminder of the historical record. Despite the immediate pain and suffering caused by the various waves of automation and creative destruction, we have yet to see an overall reduction in our opportunities for work and creative service. “If you think about it,” the narrator…

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Tennessee Adds 45,000 Jobs Over Past Year

Jason M. Reynolds
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Tennessee’s unemployment rates remain low and the state added 45,000 jobs the past year, the National Federation of Independent Business said. According to the March 2018 numbers from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 82 of the state’s 95 counties saw lower unemployment rates that month than they did in February, NFIB said. The lowest rate, 2.5 percent, was in Williamson County; the highest, 5.8 percent, was in Houston and Bledsoe counties, although that rate was a decrease for both counties from the prior month. Between April 2017 and April 2018, Tennessee added approximately 45,000 new jobs, with the biggest swells occurring in the leisure/hospitality, professional/business services, and education/health services sectors. “It doesn’t seem that long ago that several Tennessee counties had unemployment rates in the high teens, so the continuing trend of low unemployment rates across the state is wonderful news,” NFIB/TN State Director Jim Brown said. The good news continued in April as well. In mid-May, Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced that the statewide unemployment rate in April was 3.4 percent, representing the third consecutive month this number had held steady. April 2018 marked one year since…

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Diane Black Releases a Comprehensive Economic Plan to ‘Make Sure Every Tennessean Has the Opportunity to Live Their Version of the American Dream’

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Gubernatorial candidate Diane Black released what she says is a “comprehensive plan to lift up rural communities in Tennessee and make sure every Tennessean has the opportunity to live their version of the American Dream.” “Tennessee’s economy is on the move, but not every part of our state is experiencing the economic boom,” Black said in a statement, adding: Our rural communities, which make up 60% of our state, are the lifeblood of our state, but aren’t seeing the same success as areas like Nashville. We need policies coming out of Nashville that help lift up those rural communities, rather than further their economic decline. I will fight from day one to make sure that we leave no town behind and every person in our state has the opportunity to live their version of the American Dream. Diane Black’s plan – an outline of which was provided by the campaign and is published in full below – is aimed at strengthening Tennessee’s economy and to “Leave No Town Behind” Promote Rural Infrastructure and Educational Opportunity:  I will prioritize the infrastructure needs of rural communities.  But it’s not a one-size-fits-all problem. Where the need is broadband, I will support solutions that allow…

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Commentary: Pell Grant Reform Could Mean Good Paying Jobs for Middle America

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By Natalia Castro   President Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan won’t just be looking to refurbish the nation’s bridges and roads but is also aiming at reforming our nation’s educational institutions. To combat some of the most significant problems within our labor force and education system, President Trump has included a provision in his infrastructure plan that could increase access to non-college job training programs without increasing spending. As the legislative outline for Trump’s infrastructure proposal explains, the American workforce is integral to a properly running country and economy. But with nearly seven million individuals around the country looking for work and six million unfilled jobs, America’s skills gaps are leaving workers behind. Despite jobs growth and decreasing unemployment, while a disproportionate share of Americans go to college, jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree, called middle-skilled jobs, are not being filled. In states like Iowa, more than half of all available jobs are middle-skilled jobs, which leaves both jobs unfilled and skilled workers unemployed. In Palm Beach County, Florida jobs for welders and mechanics are going continually unfilled.  Jeff Ostrowski of the Palm Beach Post notes how strange this phenomenon is in their area, considering top…

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