![\"Engineer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764564852_530_0x0.jpg\")
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Today’s factory workers are technologists.<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
There was a time when large-scale computer-driven automation usurped a large array of jobs in the economy. The time was the 1970s into 1980s, when computerized machine tools swept in and took over the jobs of assemblers, parts makers, machinists, lathe operators, and more in industrial settings. This wave of automation was driven by intense global competition that threatened to put many slower-moving manufacturers out of business.<\/p>\n
In the process, the economy shifted from manufacturing work to knowledge work. Is there a parallel to the current time, with artificial intelligence threatening the jobs of knowledge workers? A team of researchers from Case Western, Princeton, and Brandeis Universities say there are analogies to the automation wave of the 1980s, but they only go so far.<\/p>\n
In this just-published study<\/a>, economist David Clingingsmith<\/a>, professor at Case Western University and his colleagues argue that workers might not be able to absorb the shocks of the current AI wave as readily as industrial workers in the 1980s, as they had strong unions, concentrated impacts, and clear retraining paths. <\/p>\n Look at today\u2019s factory floor compared with those four decades ago, the co-authors point out. “The modern factory floor is filled with machines and empty of people. Manufacturing jobs didn\u2019t quite disappear, but rather, they evolved \u2013 upward. Rather than rows of low-skilled assembly-line workers, today\u2019s industrial floors are staffed by engineers, developers, and product experts. \u201cJobs in the factory increasingly require a sophisticated understanding of the programming of machines and often a college degree.\u201d Workers received some union protection to stall an initial shock, but also gravitated en masse toward re-training and educational programs.<\/p>\n Previously, they point out. \u201cmachine tools required a semi-skilled machinist to perform operations to specification by hand,\u201d they relate. “Automated machine tools began to Along with a more competitive stance in the global economy, the results, at least back then, were positive. \u201cMetal manufacturing industries that were more exposed to CNC tools experienced rising labor productivity with little decline in total employment at either the industry or local labor market level,\u201d the co-authors pointed out. \u201cLabor demand shifted from low- and mid-skill workers toward college graduates.\u201d<\/p>\n This combination of productivity gains, displacement from core tasks, and limited overall dis-employment “place CNC between the large automation gains in the early 20th century though factory electrification and the more minimal gains associated with In other words, the rise of factory automation in the 1980s can be seen as a long-term success story that\u2019s worth emulating in today\u2019s AI environment, with an emphasis on employers providing training and education, and providing knowledge workers the opportunity to grow their skills sets. While circumstances have changed, the lesson is that moving forward with advanced technologies can be the tide that lifts all boats over the long run. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today’s factory workers are technologists. getty There was a time when large-scale computer-driven automation usurped a large array…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,93517,93518,41614,40465,93519,61,60,80,14137],"class_list":{"0":"post-168670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-cnc","12":"tag-computer-numerical-control","13":"tag-developers","14":"tag-engineers","15":"tag-factory-of-the-future","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-technology","19":"tag-workforce"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Computerized machine tools produce complex parts based on instructions encoded in computer programs, conveyors move parts from station to station, and robots assemble the parts into finished products.”<\/p>\n
diffuse widely in the 1970s. New computer numerical control (CNC) tools replaced these routine operations with detailed computer programs overseen by skilled workers.”<\/p>\n
industrial robots today.”<\/p>\n