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Why Do Many Companies Want To Replace You With Machines/Robots/Automation? What Can You Do About It?


According to Allied Market Research, an Industry Reports website that regularly ranks at the top of the article list in the Google Search Engine: “The global industrial robotics market size was $37,876.0 million in 2020. It is expected to reach $116,848.7 million by 2030, with a CAGR of 11.7% from 2021 to 2030.”

A double digit CAGR of 11.7% is very big by any industry standards. According to WikiFinancepedia, A good CAGR percentage is between 8% to 12%. It’s very clear that the industrial robotics market is growing at a very fast rate.

We also have to consider that almost everything now is being automated from laptops to cars. All of these products have some degree of automation. This is like a push by business owners to make employees from clerks to drivers obsolete.

One good YouTube video I can suggest is by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) titled: “The Robot Revolution Is Happening-Like It or Not | WSJ”. This video was posted in 2020 but still remains relevant even today.



ARE EMPLOYEES EXPENSIVE?

There are many reasons why employers would like to replace their employees with machines if they can. One of this has got to do with employee cost. Nowadays, machines are getting very cheap, can be paid in installments and can even be bought secondhand unlike an employee.

A machine can also do the job of several up to thousands of employees. For example, a tractor with the right implements can do the planting, watering and harvesting of crops. This used to be done by several farmhands all needing to be paid, fed and housed.

If you are an employer who is registered with the government, you are also required to pay not just salaries to your employees but bonuses as well. You are also mandated by government at times to frequently increase the salaries of your employees especially during inflationary times.

There are also jobs that require highly paid employees. In the old days, only the big companies can afford expensive science graduates and mathematicians. These days, AI or artificial intelligence machines/softwares can do the job at a fraction of the cost.

To be blunt, employee salaries belong in the company’s accounting ledgers as “costs” of doing business. Business owners try to eliminate all costs as much as possible to have a profitable business and also as a duty to its shareholders. There’s nothing personal about this.



ARE EMPLOYEES INEFFICIENT?

According to a website called Garvey which is Google’s top result in the search category: “average production loss due to human error”, human error accounts for 23% of unplanned downtime in manufacturing.

This is a big number considering that most products have an average profit margin of only 7% to 10% according to Investopedia, a top Google website destination for money related knowledge.

As you can see based from the above figures, human errors can virtually cost the company all of its profits and then some more. How about machines? Machines will do a perfect job if programmed/operated perfectly. They also work non-stop with no coffee or smoking breaks.

They also don’t do idle talks with other machines or humans. They simply stay quiet while they do their work. They don’t own cellphones which is arguably one of the biggest drain in employee productivity.

Lastly, they don’t get tired or get sick. While companies have to allocate downtime for employees when they get tired or get sick and even compensate them, employers don’t have to do this with their machines.



ARE EMPLOYEES LOYAL?

Most employees would abandon their employer if they can get a higher salary or get better perks at another company. There are even employees who only stay with a company to gain experience and skills and leave as soon as they get them.

Compared to employees, machines don’t worry about company policies. There are employees for example who are trouble for their bosses because they don’t obey company policies but don’t resign.

Also, compared to employees, machines don’t worry about company politics. They don’t care if some employees are being treated better than other employees. Unlike employees who always demand equal treatment no matter how trivial, machines don’t care if you abuse them.

Machines won’t also sell a company’s secrets. Let’s face it, in the highly competitive world of business, there are company owners who would bribe the greedy employees of their competitor companies. Machines don’t care about money and can’t be corrupted.

Lastly, they do their part silently and never leave their stations in the company. Unlike humans who can be tempted with other things beside work like pleasure or civic duty, machines solely exist to work for humans and nothing else.



ARE EMPLOYEES DANGEROUS?

Although employees can be trained to work at a certain way or follow a certain production process or policy, employees being humans are unique to one another and think independently. Their thoughts can be good or bad for the company.

Employees can be substance abusers, sex maniacs or be fanatics of some kind. Machines are none of these. Machines don’t get addicted to anything, they don’t get attracted to the opposite sex and certainly don’t have any personal ideology.

It is even worse if an employee turns out to be a swindler. An accounting or an investment computer program will not secretly steal a company’s money unless it has been programmed to function in this way.

Employees are especially dangerous to a company if they strike which could turn out to be violent at times. For example, Amazon employees threaten to hold a strike during Black Friday which directly threatens the profitability and stability of Amazon.

This is not only happening in the US but in many countries of the world. Rail workers in Australia virtually crippling Australian train transport, Nurses in many countries leaving their posts in hospitals to strike which endangers the health of patients and so on.



WHAT CAN YOU AS AN EMPLOYEE DO?

As you can see, company automation is not a black and white issue where company owners just want to cut employee salaries and benefits at all cost. Employers do have a legitimate excuse for wanting to have machines instead of employees if given the chance.

This is the reason why you as an employee should not get too comfortable with your job. A machine can really replace you at one point in your career. Do not let yourself turn into an obsolete one-skill only employee.

Make yourself as valuable to the company as you possibly can. This might mean going the extra mile for your company. For example, if you’re a clerk in a company, don’t be afraid to try other white or blue collar positions in your company. The more you know, the safer you are.

This is especially apparent these days when everyone aspires to be only a white collar worker because of its perceived high status and high pay. There are many blue collar jobs that are hard to automate like a plumber and an electrician. The pay is very good to boot.

Lastly, learn to create and repair machines. It is highly likely that every human activity would involve the interaction with machines. Just take a look at the internet and how it dominates human interactions now. Creating and repairing machines are in demand skills.



WHY DO YOU NEED TO SAVE MONEY AND BECOME A BUSINESS OWNER?

The best way to not get fired is by being a company owner yourself. This way, you can automate your company to your heart’s desire and don’t have to worry about someone else firing you.

It is advisable that you try setting up a business even at a part-time basis while you’re still an employee. This would not only give you a second income but would give you partial financial independence from the company you work for.

This especially applies when you are way past your forties and into your fifties. By this time, you would be still be too young to receive unemployment benefits but is too old to start from the bottom of a company as an employee.

You also need to save as much money as you can. If you are not doing this currently, start doing this now. The business world is very unpredictable. It could be as simple as getting laid off because your company didn’t reach its projected profit goal for the quarter.

Lastly, you really need to save for all possible financial downturns in your life. It’s not only being fired from a job because a machine is replacing you but it could be as simple as getting fired because of company politics. Prepare yourself for the worst in life by always saving money.



CONCLUSION

There are plenty of reasons why many companies today want to replace their employees with machines. While there are companies who do it for greed, there are other companies who are legitimately scared of what employees can do to their company.

Whatever the company’s reason, you as an employee must prepare for a very real scenario in which you would be replaced by machines. You could do this by continually improving your worth to the company, upskilling, being a business owner yourself and by saving.




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How You Became Expendable As A Worker

Before becoming a self-employed person, I was a long-time employee of several companies in two countries. I was lucky enough not to be terminated from any of the companies I worked for...


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