Category: Labor Markets
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Labor Market Polarization Explained with a Cartoon

Beginning in the 1980s, employment growth ceased to be spread nearly equally among occupational levels. Instead, growth shifted into a more divergent pattern with the largest share of employment increasing among high-wage and low-wage occupations. Termed “labor market polarization,” the growing concentration of employment at opposite ends of the earning…
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Manufacturing Job Loss: Trade or Automation?

As a result of automation, within manufacturing sector itself, there is a greater premium placed on workers with higher skill levels and abilities. Manufacturing jobs today require multifaceted workers with the ability to engage in problem-solving, critical-thinking, and creativity. Highly skilled production workers are becoming increasingly essential to the operation…
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What Bank Tellers Can Teach Us About How Automation Impacts Jobs

Originally published here. Key Takeaways Occupational change as a result of technology adoption is slow, but inevitable. Automating routine tasks can be both beneficial for businesses, through cost reduction, and workers, by reducing mundane tasks. Technology adoption means the jobs of the future will require different skills and training. Following…