How the Rise of Automation, Accelerated by Covid-19, is Reshaping the Job Market
The global pandemic pushed businesses toward automation to cope with changing conditions. In hospitals, supermarkets, and various environments, robots like floor-cleaners and disinfecting machines became common, offering both efficiency and hygiene benefits. For example, the American fast food chain White Castle introduced cooking robots to minimize human contact with food, addressing health concerns amid the pandemic.
However, as the worst of the pandemic subsides, the situation surrounding job availability has grown more complex. While unemployment remains high, both the US and the UK face significant worker shortages, particularly in industries with tough working conditions and low wages. Despite the continued unemployment of a quarter of a million UK workers from 2019, job vacancies have surged 20% above pre-pandemic levels.
The reasons for these shortages aren’t entirely clear. While some point to extended furlough payments allowing people to stay out of work, evidence suggests this wasn’t the main factor. Many workers, reassessing their work-life balance, may simply be unwilling to return to difficult, low-paying jobs. In the UK, Brexit has worsened the situation, with 200,000 EU nationals, who previously worked in agriculture and logistics, leaving the country and likely not returning.
With this backdrop, the growing reliance on robots could provide a solution, but it also raises the question: will automation end up displacing human workers or addressing these labour gaps? The need to rethink societal structures and labor policies has never been more urgent.
