I recently wrote how I think automation has expanded working opportunities and, by the way, increased worker wages. Another example of how automation may actually increase employment came from an article by Gregory McNeal in Forbes. According to Drew Greenblatt, president and owner of Marlin Steel of Baltimore, they managed to expand and add jobs by using robots and other equipment to increase worker productivity. “In December, we won a job from a Chicago company that for over a decade has bought from China,” he said. “It’s a sheet-metal bracket; 160,000 sheet-metal brackets, year in, year out. They were made in China, now they’re made in Baltimore; using steel from a plant in Indiana and the robot was made in Connecticut.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2013/01/31/will-robots-kill-jobs/
So plenty of anecdotes abound: robotics and automation free up workers from drudgery and time-consuming jobs. This, in turn, improves productivity and profits, which leads to more company investment in workers and machines. And this fuels an expansion of the automation industry and keeps our economy growing.
Many students that I have talked to regarding their hopes and aspirations wish to move out of the low-paying jobs into higher-paying careers and are investing in their future by attending colleges to do so. By earning certificates and/or degrees they will be able to realize these goals. Jobs are plentiful in the manufacturing sector. As long as the students apply themselves in college and be the best they can possibly be, their futures are rosy.