Much has been (and will continue to be) written about automation’s impact on the jobs market. In the short-term, many employers have complained of an inability to fill roles and retain workers, further accelerating robotic adoption. The long-term impact these sorts of sweeping changes will have on the job market going forward remains to be seen. One aspect of the conversation that is oft neglected, however, is how human workers feel about their robotic colleagues. There’s a lot to be said for systems that augment or remove the more backbreaking aspects of blue-collar work. But could the technology also have a negative impact on worker morale? Both things can certainly be true at once. The Brookings Institution this week issued results gleaned from several surveys conducted over the past decade and a half to evaluate the impact that robotics has on job “meaningfulness.” The think tank defines the admittedly abstract notion thus: In exploring what makes work meaningful, we rely on self-determination theory. According to this theory, satisfying three innate psychological needs — competence, autonomy, and relatedness — is key for motivating workers and enabling them to experience purpose through their work. Data was culled from worker surveys carried out in 14 industries across 20 countries in Europe, cross-referenced with robot deployment data issued by the International Federation of Robotics. Industries surveyed included automotive, chemical products, food and beverage and metal production, among others. The institute reports a negative impact to worker-perceived meaningfulness and autonomy levels.
Full report : Robots can make jobs less meaningful for human colleagues.
