Technofeudalism

Consortium News 30.01.25

Chris Hedges and Yannis Varoufakis discuss the changing landscape between workers and the rise of technofeudalism:

‘Power today resides not with the owners of traditional capital, such as machinery, buildings, railway and phone networks. It has shifted to the owners of cloud capital. We, in this process, have returned to our former status as serfs, contributing to the wealth and power of the new ruling class with our unpaid labor in addition to the waged labor we perform. This change, he warns, has imperiled our autonomy and perhaps our freedom. Joining me to discuss his book Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism is Yanis Varaoufakis. .. The first is, if you are a proletarian, if you work in an Amazon warehouse or in a Tesla or a General Motors factory floor, these days you will have seen if you walk around, if you are allowed to walk around an Amazon warehouse, you will see that workers have one of these attached to their wrist here and this machine is connected to the same algorithm that is running Amazon.com, [A]WS [Amazon Web Services] and all that… And this thing monitors at every nanosecond where the worker is. It instructs the worker, you go to that aisle, pick up that box, bring it here. It knows how long you spent in the toilet. And remarkably, it uses the same reinforcement learning algorithms that brilliant scientists are using in our great research centers in order to design snazzy antibiotics that kill bacteria, that human design has not managed to produce yet.  It uses exactly the same AI kind of designer tools in order to predict, to prognosticate in which warehouse, which worker is going to have a higher likelihood, propensity towards forming a union and fires them before they even think of creating a union. So that changes the life of people who work in traditional wage labor settings.’

Black Mirror: Actors and Hollywood battle over AI digital doubles

Reuters 14.07.23

Hollywood actors have got the right of it in feeling threatened by AI and studios’ potential cost savings:

‘Artificial intelligence has become a sensitive issue for film and television actors, who fear that artificial intelligence could be used to duplicate their voices and likenesses. Actors have used contract talks with the Hollywood studios to assert control over how these digital simulations are used on screen.’

‘They treat you like an animal’: How British farms run on exploitation

TBIJ 27.03.23

Slavery is thriving in the UK:

‘An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and VICE World News has uncovered widespread mistreatment of migrants working at more than 20 UK farms, nurseries and packhouses in 2022… Workers are in the UK for a short period of time and can only work for farms that have contracts with their recruiter, so have difficulty leaving situations in which they feel exploited. Workers often take out loans to pay for the costs of coming to the UK, which means that they are less likely to speak out for fear of losing work and not being able to pay off their debts. But pressure from the National Farmers Union, an industry association representing farm owners, has resulted in the government increasing the number of workers that come to the UK on the scheme by thousands each year. In 2023, up to 55,000 visas could be issued, up from just 2,500 in 2019. While these workers are often talked about as a solution to the UK’s labour and potential food shortages, their voices rarely form part of the conversation. Even the government’s review of labour shortages is led by a panel made up mainly by food business executives, without a single worker representative.’

Goldman Sachs Salivates at AI’s Potential to Mass Fire Workers

Futurism 29.03.23

More profits for shareholders and no income for workers - an AI tsunami around the corner:

‘"The recent emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) raises whether we are on the brink of a rapid acceleration in task automation that will drive labor cost savings and raise productivity," reads a new Goldman Sachs economic report, published over the weekend. "Despite significant uncertainty around the potential of generative AI," it continues, "its ability to generate content that is indistinguishable from human-created output and to break down communication barriers between humans and machines reflects a major advancement with potentially large macroeconomic effects.” Translation? While the future of generative AI is still up in the air, right now, its output is already comparable, in the bank's eyes, to the output of enormously costly human labor. Replace humans with machines, and you no longer have to pay for livelihoods — just subscription fees… We're all walking into a new technological unknown, and we can't expect AI innovators to have all of the answers. But still, it's hard to take Goldman Sachs' rosy "good news" outlook seriously when it tends to read more like an excuse to do something, like intentionally eradicate hundreds of millions of jobs, rather than a sound, substance-driven reason that goes beyond just keeping cash in a company's bank, as opposed to its workers' pockets.’

The AI industrial revolution puts middle-class workers under threat this time

The Guardian 18.02.23

You only have to go into a supermarket to see an array of self-service machines and not one human in sight.  Or you could try to spend an hour trying to contact insurance providers to talk to a person, and then fail:

‘Developments in machine learning and robotics have been moving on rapidly while the world has been preoccupied by the pandemic, inflation and war. AI stands to be to the fourth industrial revolution what the spinning jenny and the steam engine were to the first in the 18th century: a transformative technology that will fundamentally reshape economies…  History suggests profound technological change presents significant challenges for policymakers. Each of the three previous industrial revolutions had a similar initial impact: it hollowed out jobs across the economy, it led to an increase in inequality and to a decline in the share of income going to labour.  AI threatens to have precisely the same effects, but with one key difference. Left unchecked, owners of the new machines will make enormous sums of money out of their innovations. Capital will see its share of income rise at the expense of labour.’

A world in which your boss spies on your brainwaves? That future is near

The Guardian 09.02.23

For those lucky enough to have a job in this ever-AI-robotic landscape, you will in effect become a meat sack with observable impulses:

‘Farahany paints a picture of a near future in which every office worker could be fitted with a small wearable that would constantly record brain activity, creating an omnipotent record of your thoughts, attention and energy that the boss could study at leisure. No longer would it be enough to look like you’re working hard: your own brainwaves could reveal that you were slacking off…  

Farahany is a very smart person. But her professional milieu may have lulled her into falsely believing that corporations will not do the most unspeakable acts imaginable in order to make an extra dollar of profit. She argues that these technologies offer promising benefits for people to improve their own experiences at work, and that as long as we “make a choice to use it well”, and operate from a starting principle of “cognitive liberty” to protect individual choice, the future of workplace surveillance can be one in which workers and businesses alike are made stronger by the slow evolution of our brains into cybernetic, connected, measured mechanisms.  It is that fundamental sense of optimism that is, I’m afraid, screamingly naive…  

A Coworker.org database of bossware found that more than 550 products are already in use in workplaces. Everywhere you look, workers are being tracked, watched, measured, scored, analyzed and penalized by software, human overseers and artificial intelligence, with the aim of wringing every last cent’s worth of productivity out of the flawed and fragile flesh-and-blood units of labor who must, regrettably, be used as employees until the robots get a little bit more manual dexterity. The crowning insult of it all is that in most cases, the people enduring the surveillance are paid much less than those who are inflicting it…  At Davos, Farahany said that neurotechnology in the workplace “has a dystopian possibility”. But that is not stating the case strongly enough. Absent stringent regulation, it has a dystopian certainty.’

The eyes of Amazon: a hidden workforce driving a vast surveillance system

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism 21.11.22

Human stowing Amazon products are being surveilled by humans not allowed to blink:

‘The workers being filmed by Amazon’s cameras know little about the people watching them from the other side of the world. Of the nine stow workers interviewed, just one said they were aware footage from their station could be sent to other countries for manual review.  And for their part, some workers in India and Costa Rica said they were unsure exactly how Amazon used the fruits of their labour. “We had no idea where this particular data was going,” one worker said. “We were never given such knowledge [of] what exactly is happening in the backend.”’

Here’s How We Beat Amazon

Jacobin 04.02.22

Amazon workers have unionised in some regions and hopefully will expand their efforts globally, despite the company itself trying to undermine them:

‘After decades of union decline, Amazon workers in Staten Island have achieved the most important labor victory in the United States since the 1930s. Taking on and defeating Amazon would be a David versus Goliath story no matter who led the effort, but it is especially stunning that the successful unionization drive at the JFK8 warehouse was initiated by the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), an upstart, independent, worker-led effort.’

Alexa whistleblower demands Amazon apology after being jailed and tortured

The Guardian 30.01.22

A few days ago, I visited a very famous hardware shop (Robert Dyas) in order to buy a kettle.  Not one of the 10 kettles on offer was not made in China.  I was outraged that we depend on cheap labour for most of our household needs:

‘A whistleblower who exposed illegal working conditions in a factory making Amazon’s Alexa devices says he was tortured before being jailed by Chinese authorities.  Tang Mingfang, 43, was jailed after he revealed how the Foxconn factory in the southern Chinese city of Hengyang used schoolchildren working illegally long hours to manufacture Amazon’s popular Echo, Echo Dot and Kindle devices.  Now, after spending two years in prison, he is appealing to the higher courts to clear his name. He has taken the difficult decision to talk publicly, despite being aware of the risks of reprisals, because he believes Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos, have a responsibility to support his appeal and that the Observer also has a responsibility to highlight his case…  China Labor Watch director Li Qiang also wrote to Bezos urging him to intervene on behalf of Tang. “CLW believes that Amazon has the responsibility to call for China to free this innocent volunteer, who provided the evidence of labour violations in an Amazon supplier factory, and thank him for helping improving workers’ conditions. All he did was report violations of workers’ rights in an Amazon supplier factory. He did not commit any illegal acts.  “It is unacceptable and unfair that Tang Mingfang is serving jail time for trying to help Amazon improve the labour conditions in its supplier factory.”  He said Bezos had not responded to his letter and Amazon had not offered any support for Tang.’

Kellogg to replace 1,400 strikers as deal is rejected

The Guardian 07.12.1

Once hailed as heroes for working through the pandemic, now to be sacked for protesting outsourcing:

'Kellogg has said it is permanently replacing 1,400 workers who have been on strike since October, a decision that comes as the majority of its cereal plant workforce rejected a deal that would have provided 3% raises… Workers say they are also protesting planned job cuts and offshoring, and a proposed two-tier system that gives newer workers at the plants less pay and fewer benefits. Speaking to the Guardian in October, Trevor Bidelman, president of BCTGM Local3G and a fourth-generation employee at the Kellogg plant in Battle Creek, Michigan, described it as a “fight for our future”. “This is after just one year ago, we were hailed as heroes, as we worked through the pandemic, seven days a week, 16 hours a day. Now apparently, we are no longer heroes,” said Bidelman. “We don’t have weekends, really. We just work seven days a week, sometimes 100 to 130 days in a row. For 28 days, the machines run, then rest three days for cleaning. They don’t even treat us as well as they do their machinery.”’

The Robots Are Coming

Bloomberg 08.11.21

The rise of robotic labour is being justified by its low cost:

‘“People want to remove labor,” says Ametek Inc. Chief Executive Officer David A. Zapico. Ametek’s business making automation equipment for industrial firms — like motion trackers used in steel and lumber mills and packaging systems — is “firing on all cylinders,” he says.  Domino’s Pizza Inc. is “putting in place equipment and technology that reduce the amount of labor that is required to produce our dough balls,” says CEO Ritch Allison. “Tight labor supply” at Hormel Foods Corp. has seen the maker of Spam spread and Skippy peanut butter “ramping up our investments in automation,” Mark Coffey, a group vice president says… Knightscope makes security robots that look a bit like R2-D2 from Star Wars. They can patrol sites such as factory perimeters and cost from $3.50 to $7.50 an hour. The company says it’s attracting new clients who are having trouble hiring workers to keep watch. The longer that millions of Americans linger on the sidelines of the job market, the bigger the risk that automation could make America’s income and wealth gaps worse.’

Amazon drivers look to sue for compensation over rights

BBC 13.10.21

Good luck to the law firm.  Amazon is not Uber:

‘Drivers making deliveries on behalf of Amazon for its "Delivery Service Partners" are not entitled to National Minimum Wage or an employment contract, Leigh Day said.  The law firm says it has already begun legal action on behalf of two drivers and is seeking others to join a group action.   Leigh Day, which brought, and won, a landmark case on behalf of Uber drivers for workers' rights in February, claims at least three thousand drivers could potentially be owed more than a hundred million pounds in compensation.'

The Guardian view on Amazon’s shops: benefit society, not just consumers

The Guardian 10.10.21

Amazon is on a regular treadmill to enrich itself:

‘Amazon is smuggling into the British economy a low-tax, lightly regulated corporate form of work intensification where staff are tracked to ensure they meet exacting targets. It says more about the decrepit state of the care sector than Amazon’s warehouses that workers are choosing the latter over the former.  Last year, a Trades Union Congress report described 10-hour working days at Amazon warehouses, with 300 items picked and packed hourly, and workers sacked for not keeping up. The company’s new CEO says Amazon could do more to treat workers better. Perhaps he could back the call from Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, to unionise the company’s UK warehouses? Amazon is signing agreements with unions in Europe. The government’s promised employment bill could help. It should adopt Labour’s idea for collective agreements between unions and employer groups that set a floor on pay and conditions across a sector. The TUC says it would take Amazon warehouse workers outside London 294 hours to match what the company’s founder Jeff Bezos earns per second. If this is not a sign of a broken system in need of urgent repair, then it’s hard to know what is.'

Ocado robot fire sparks £10m loss as driver shortage adds to costs

The Guardian 14.09.21

When automation goes up in flame:

‘The blaze at the facility in Erith caused by the collision of three robots, the online supermarket’s third in three years, resulted in 300,000 orders, or about £35m of revenue, being lost.’

Bosses turn to ‘tattleware’ to keep tabs on employees working from home

The Guardian 05.09.21

A disgusting trend has encroached itself since remote working.  Bosses snooping on employers has been allowed to run wild with no regulation protecting workers’ privacy:

‘In April last year, Google queries for “remote monitoring” were up 212% year-on-year; by April this year, they’d continued to surge by another 243%.  One of the major players in the industry, ActivTrak, reports that during March 2020 alone, the firm scaled up from 50 client companies to 800. Over the course of the pandemic, the company has maintained that growth, today boasting 9,000 customers – or, as it claims, more than 250,000 individual users. Time Doctor, Teramind, and Hubstaff – which, together with ActivTrak, make up the bulk of the market – have all seen similar growth from prospective customers.'

Rent-a-robot: Silicon Valley’s new answer to the labor shortage in smaller U.S. factories

Reuters 26.08.21

I wonder if they’ll ever be an AI Union for all these robots given the pace they’re being used in the workforce.  A hilarious book by Charles Stross titled ‘Saturn’s Chidren’ comes to mind:

‘Better technology and the need to pay higher wages to humans have produced a surge in sales of robots to big companies all across America. But few of these automatons are making it into smaller factories, which are wary of big upfront costs and lacking robot engineering talent…  “Melvin runs 24 hours a day, all three shifts, and that replaced three full operators,” said President Tammy Barras, adding that she is saving about $60,000 in labor costs a year with the one robot alone. “We've had to increase our wages quite significantly this year because of what is going on in the world. And luckily, Melvin has not increased his pay rate. He doesn't ask for a raise.”  Barras, who has 102 employees, says robots cannot replace humans today as they can perform only repetitive, simple tasks like picking up a round plastic cylinder and stamping a company logo on the correct side.’

Robots don't smoke, says Alibaba, and that's why they deliver parcels so fast

The Register 24.08.21

Human foibles and navigational errors to be replaced by a 99.9999% increase of efficiency:

‘Alibaba has revealed one reason it's decided to deploy 1000 rolling delivery robots across China: they don't stop work to smoke.  "Last-mile delivery has always been the knotty problem of e-commerce," states a post from the Chinese web giant. "It's costly, time-consuming and largely unmapped.  "This final leg in a journey that stretches from the manufacturer to the buyer can flummox human couriers. Delivery people can get lost trying to find a flat in a tower block or navigate a large housing estate.”  The post hints vaguely at tech that lets delivery bots find their way around such locations more efficiently than humans, and asserts "Alibaba's robots will be able to make the trip without deviations or smoke breaks”…  The company says its bots can predict the next five to ten seconds of movement by nearby people and vehicles and use that analysis to avoid collisions 99.9999 per cent of the time.’

Factories of the future: we’re spending heavily to give workers skills they won’t need by 2030

The Conversation 27.07.21

The inexorable rise of automation in labour is not being addressed by most governments:

‘Of course, there will still be opportunities for workers who can work with the new technology – “robot wranglers” as they’re being described. New jobs may be created in these areas, and those who are able to fit the criteria stored in skills clouds may be able to fill them.   However, digitising and automating manufacturing may reinforce a dual skills market that prizes (a small number of) high-level technical skills, while everything else ends up being done by machines. It appears that the factory and its associated infrastructure will be levelling up rather than the workers.   The worry is that the UK government is not talking about this, and seems to be developing a strategy that is naïve to it. The golden age of manufacturing and vocational skill no longer exists, if it ever did: the next shifts are about anti-human technologies and organisational forms rapidly depreciating human skills…  One point to make is that for all the talk of levelling up and working-class jobs, a missing component is the voice of the workers. Governments and opposition parties may not like it, but if factories are going to “level down” skills, some form of collective ownership or at least social partnership is necessary to ensure that human skills and employment are secured – perhaps by limiting the extent to which AI and robotics are used in production.   Unions, social movements and workers’ cooperatives have a role to play in this. We need to face what is coming and start thinking about how we respond to it – in ten short years, it may be too late.’

Bangladesh factory owner charged with murder after 52 die in fire

Al Jazeera 10.07.21

Horrific incident where labour laws are non-existent:

'Police in Bangladesh have arrested on murder charges the owner of a factory where at least 52 people died in a massive fire, as it emerged that children as young as 11 had been working there.  Four of the owner’s sons were also among the eight people detained overall on Saturday over the inferno that broke out on Thursday and raged for more than a day. A separate inquiry has been launched into the use of child labour at the facility…  Jayedul Alam, police chief for Narayanganj district where the factory is located, said the entrance had been padlocked at the time of the blaze and the factory breached multiple fire and safety regulations.  “It was a deliberate murder,” the police chief told the AFP news agency.’

Firms say surveillance tech protects them and boosts the bottom line, but unions warn it is too easy for employers to collect intimate, personal data and use it against their workers

News Trust 23.06.21

Voyeurism is becoming the norm in workplaces:

‘From Swedish retailer H&M being fined 35 million euros ($42 million) for recording employees' private data to Britain's Barclays bank accused of spying on its staff, workplace surveillance has come into the spotlight in recent months.  On Wednesday, the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the European Trade Union Confederation's research arm, said planned regulation by the European Union (EU) to improve privacy does not do enough to stop companies from snooping on their workers in the name of security and efficiency…  Many businesses also view dismissals based on automated technology without human oversight as unacceptable.  "The general principle of business is to be transparent and get that consent from the employee (to be monitored) when using keystrokes and location data," one industry official said on condition of anonymity, as he was speaking without permission.  Ponce Del Castillo said she was in the process of dealing with two cases in Europe of multinationals that inappropriately used data-loss protection programmes - intended to staunch leaks of sensitive information - against workers.’

China's White Collar Workers Face Invasive Surveillance By 'Big Tech' Overlords 

ZeroHedge 09.06.21

Nothing new from a country that needs to look into every citizen:

‘Nikkei's story starts out with testimony from Andy Wang, an IT professional in Hong Kong, whose company has been ratcheting up efforts to monitor its workforce. They call it DiSanZhiYan, or "Third Eye." The software, installed on the laptop of every employee, monitors all their communications and movements, as well as their browsing activity and software and app usage.  The invasive software would automatically file complaints and every once in a while an employee would be fired. Finally, things like 20-hours work days began to seem impossibly daunting.  Working from their floor in a downtown high-rise, the startup's hundreds of employees were constantly, uncomfortably aware of being under Third Eye's intent gaze.  The software would also automatically flag "suspicious behavior" such as visiting job-search sites or video streaming platforms. "Efficiency" reports would be generated weekly, summarizing their time spent by website and application.  "Bosses would check the reports regularly," Wang said. Farther down the line, that could skew workers' prospects for promotions and pay rises. They could also be used as evidence when the company looked to fire certain people, he added.  Even Wang himself was not exempt. High-definition surveillance cameras were installed around the floor, including in his office, and a receptionist would check the footage every day to monitor how long each employee spent on their lunch break, he said.  Nikkei's latest story about these types of abuses at Chinese white collar firms just so happens to follow increased scrutiny of China's human rights record in the wake of the Biden Administration's condemnation of Beijing's "genocidal" treatment of the Uyghers.’

Court tells Uber to reinstate five UK drivers sacked by automated process

The Guardian 14.04.21

Fired by AI with no support of evidence, Uber drivers get their jobs back:

‘James Farrar, the director of Worker Info Exchange, said: “For the Uber drivers robbed of their jobs and livelihoods, this has been a dystopian nightmare come true. They were publicly accused of ‘fraudulent activity’ on the back of poorly governed use of bad technology. This case is a wake-up call for lawmakers about the abuse of surveillance technology now proliferating in the gig economy.” He claimed gig economy groups were “hiding management control in algorithms”.’

Government facing threat of legal action over PPE links to modern slavery

The Independent 01.04.21

It’s hard to resist a cheap deal it seems:

‘As revealed by The Independent, the government has been aware of alleged human rights abuses in Malaysian glove factories since November 2019, when Whitehall identified a number suspected of forced labour.  Further concerns were highlighted by a British diplomat.  Nonetheless, tens of millions of gloves made by Brightway, Top Glove and Supermax were still provided to the NHS as demand soared and are continuing to be used by staff…  Nusrat Uddin, of Wilson Solicitors, said: “Despite the government's promises, our clients and their peers remain in positions of forced labour, human trafficking and modern slavery, while the UK has repeatedly sourced gloves produced in these conditions throughout the pandemic.  “It's appalling that our clients have had to resort to instructing lawyers in order to get answers as to what action has actually been taken to address these issues in the UK's supply chain, as the government’s repeated rhetoric and reassurances alone are not enough.”' 

Amazon Delivery Drivers Forced to Sign ‘Biometric Consent’ Form or Lose Job

VICE 23.03.21

Until all of its labour force gets fully automated, Amazon wants its human drivers to feed data into what can only be described as a dystopian encroachment on privacy:

‘Amazon delivery drivers nationwide have to sign a "biometric consent" form this week that grants the tech behemoth permission to use AI-powered cameras to access drivers' location, movement, and biometric data…  "Amazon may… use certain Technology that processes Biometric Information, including on-board safety camera technology which collects your photograph for the purposes of confirming your identity and connecting you to your driver account," the form reads. "Using your photograph, this Technology, may create Biometric Information, and collect, store, and use Biometric Information from such photographs.”  It adds that "this Technology tracks vehicle location and movement, including miles driven, speed, acceleration, braking, turns, and following distance ...as a condition of delivery packages for Amazon, you consent to the use of Technology.”'

Uber to pay drivers a minimum wage, holiday pay and pensions

BBC 17.03.21

Good news for gig workers:

‘Uber, which has never made a profit, said the changes to its UK drivers' pay would come in from Wednesday, and form an earnings floor, not an earnings ceiling. The company said the new rates would come on top of free insurance to cover sickness, injury and maternity and paternity payments which have been in place for all drivers since 2018…  Union leaders also warned other gig economy firms they would have to change. "This is the end of the road for bogus self employment," said Mick Rix, national officer of the GMB union, which has been fighting for employment rights through the courts.  "It's a shame it took the GMB winning four court battles to make them see sense, but we got there in the end and ultimately that's a big win for our members. Other gig economy companies should take note," Mr Rix said.’ 

Facebook faces US investigation for 'systemic' racial bias in hiring

The Guardian 06.03.21

Can’t work at Facebook if black, unless you’re in the ‘lucky’ 3% of hires:

‘Increasing racial and gender diversity has been a persistent challenge for the country’s largest tech companies, which at times have blamed a shortage of qualified candidates from underrepresented groups. But tech workers have grown emboldened to publicly challenge that notion and allege in formal complaints that biased employment practices cause disparities.’

'No sense of job security': Amazon union organizers tell lawmakers in Alabama

REUTERS 05.03.21

The movement to back unionisation of Amazon is growing:

'The move by the Alabama workers, which is being backed by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), is a critical one for the U.S. labor movement that has struggled with declining membership in recent years. It is also a watershed moment for a growing unionizing drive within the tech industry that has long been hostile to organized labor.  The congressional delegation includes U.S. Representatives Andy Levin, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Terri Sewell, and Nikema Williams.  “This is the most important election for the working class of this country in the 21st century,” Rep. Levin said, addressing workers in Bessemer. “This is the biggest election in the south in a generation.”’

Uber has lost in the Supreme Court. Here’s what happens next

WIRED 19.02.21

Good news for gig workers as this may rebalance employers/employees’ relationship:

‘Judges in the UK's highest court unanimously upheld a 2016 Employment Tribunal decision that said drivers are in a "position of subordination and dependancy to Uber". Although the new decision will only directly apply to the 25 drivers who brought the claim against Uber, it will set an important precedent for how millions of gig economy workers are treated in the UK…  This judgment means that self-employed people working for Uber would have the same rights as workers for the first time. These include the right to be paid national minimum wage, to be given the statutory minimum level of paid holiday and rest breaks, to be protected from unlawful discrimination and whistleblowing in the workplace, and not to be treated less favourably if they work part time. They may also be entitled to maternity and paternity pay and statutory sick pay.’ 

Amazon’s empty pledge leaves agency workers without shifts and pay

The Bureau 18.02.21

Through agency hires, tech giant gets around zero-hour contracts and continues practising its shoddy employment tactics:

‘The use of agencies as middle-men allows Amazon to keep itself at “arms-length” from the workers, Mackay said. He described the set-up as a way for the company to “disassociate itself from [the workers’] mistreatment”.  The Bureau heard that these contracts left many workers unsure of how long their employment would last. One man employed by Adecco simply stopped receiving texts offering him shifts. Other workers say they have been summoned by text and fired or have turned up to work only to find out they no longer have a job.   Andy McDonald, the shadow secretary of state for employment rights, said the Bureau’s findings revealed that “the government is presiding over a return to Dickensian working conditions which leave workers with no idea what hours they will work or how they will pay their bills”…  The Adecco Group is based in Switzerland, formed in 1996 after a merger. The 2019 accounts for its UK company showed a loss after tax of £12.4m although its gross profit increased to nearly £56m, an increase on the year before. The group is one of the biggest in the recruitment world. It says it supplies over 700,000 people every day through its worldwide agencies. Adecco recruits for Amazon across the globe, including in the United States, Australia and Poland.’

Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US

The Guardian 12.02.21

Profits before rights.  Hope the plaintiffs win:

‘Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by the human rights firm International Rights Advocates (IRA), on behalf of eight former child slaves who say they were forced to work without pay on cocoa plantations in the west African country…  It is the first time that a class action of this kind has been filed against the cocoa industry in a US court. Citing research by the US state department, the International Labour Organization and Unicef, among others, the court documents allege that the plaintiffs’ experience of child slavery is mirrored by that of thousands of other minors.’

Former FBI Officials Tapped for Amazon’s Growing Security Apparatus

The Intercept 11.02.21

Amazon hirigin Intelligence people to stop unionisation efforts:

‘Amazon, one of the largest corporations in the world, supplies state-of-the-art facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies, provides the military with a range of technology services, and is now building out its security operation with over a dozen former FBI agents.  The tech conglomerate, which began as an online bookseller, is rapidly hiring for its global security center in Arizona. As the firm expands and faces new challenges, including increased antitrust scrutiny, counterfeiting issues, and pressure from worker activism, the company is staffing up with former FBI agents, with a focus on security and intelligence-gathering ability. From 2017 to 2020, the $1.6 trillion technology behemoth hired 20 former FBI agents, at least two of whom appear to be responsible for monitoring the labor-organizing activity of its workers to keep unions out.’

Amazon Springs Ten-Hour 'Megacycle' Shifts on Its Workers

Gizmodo 04.02.21

Monstrous shifts enacted for workers at the world’s richest company:

‘Amazon workers at delivery stations now claim that they’ve been forced to combine shifts into a monstrous overnight shifts lasting ten or eleven which workers have dubbed the “megacycle.” According to a flyer from the workers’ organizing group Amazonians United New York, the megacycle typically runs from 1 or 2 am to 11 am or noon. The flyer claims management adds workers onto megacycles with “very little warning,” and that workers may be “forced off the job” if they refuse to take on these new shifts.’

Amazon ordered to pay $61.7m fine for withholding drivers’ tips

The Independent 03.02.21

Truly disgusting practice from a very wealthy tech giant:

'Amazon will pay more than $61.7m to settle charges brought against it by the Federal Trade Commission alleging it failed to pay Amazon Flex drivers the full tip amounts they were given by customers of the company.   According to an FTC complaint, Amazon only stopped taking the contracted drivers' tips after becoming aware of the FTC investigation.  The money collected from Amazon will go toward drivers' compensation.   The company claimed drivers would receive "100 per cent of the tips you earn while delivering with Amazon Flex" but later changed the way it paid drivers - without alerting them - and pocketed their wages.'

Google workers form small union, eyeing more protests over working conditions

REUTERS 05.01.21

A small step in the right direction:

‘Unlike traditional labor unions in the U.S., the Alphabet group is a so-called “minority union” that will not be able to force the company to collectively bargain over wages or other issues.  Under U.S. labor law, Alphabet can ignore the union’s demands until a majority of employees support it. In addition, the union plans to represent third-party contractors, a class of workers whose demands Alphabet also may ignore.  Union leaders acknowledge that widespread support is unlikely soon. Well-paying jobs, with perks such as free meals and gyms, mostly have kept unionization out of the tech industry.  But labor activism is creeping into the tech industry as workers and regulators grapple with the power of sprawling internet companies including Alphabet.’

Google workers reject company's account of AI researcher's exit as anger grows

The Guardian 07.12.20

Google is messing with its AI Ethics’ department.  How ironic:

‘Gebru, a Black female scientist who is highly respected in her field, said on Twitter last week that she had been fired after sending an email to an internal company group for women and allies, expressing frustration over discrimination at Google and a dispute over one of her papers that was retracted after initially being approved for publication.  The paper in question examined the ethical issues associated with AI language technology and reportedly mentions Google’s own software, which is important to the company’s business model development.'

More on the repercussions.

Facebook sued for 'denying opportunities to US workers’

BBC 04.12.20

In the US, labour discrimination from Facebook is at work:

‘"Our message to workers is clear: If companies deny employment opportunities by illegally preferring temporary visa holders, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable," said Eric S Dreiband, the assistant attorney general for the department's civil rights division.  "Our message to all employers - including those in the technology sector - is clear: You cannot illegally prefer to recruit, consider or hire temporary visa holders over US workers.”'

Robots on the rise as Americans experience record job losses amid pandemic

The Guardian 27.11.20

The pandemic has shredded employment and made way for robotic workforce:

‘A recent report from the World Economic Forum predicted that by 2025 the next wave of automation – turbocharged by the pandemic – will disrupt 85m jobs globally. New jobs will be created but “businesses, governments and workers must plan to urgently work together to implement a new vision for the global workforce”.’

Indian factory workers supplying major brands allege routine exploitation

BBC 17.11.20

Modern slavery tactics are in robust health:

‘Low wages and weak labour laws have long made India an attractive place for foreign brands looking to outsource work. Unions are rare and virtually absent in the private sector, making informal and contract workers especially vulnerable. While inspections are mandatory, rampant corruption and a sluggish system has meant that factories are rarely held to account for breaking the law…  These kinds of brands do not own or operate factories in India, which creates distance between them and working conditions there, but one owner of a clothing supplier - who did not want to be named - told the BBC that if brands push for cheaper clothes it can leave suppliers with no choice but to cut corners to meet orders.  "It's the brand who wants to maximize the profit. So, they push you to a level wherein you have to do the exploitation in order to survive," he said.  The owner, who used to supply a major UK brand not mentioned in this story, described some factory audit processes as a “sham".' 

Robots to take on more supermarket tasks 

BBC 13.11.20

Whilst Walmart recently got rid of its robotic shelf-stacking machines, Ocado is using them to help pack grocery items:

‘Hundreds of robots zip around a grid, collecting groceries and bringing them to a member of staff who will pack them into boxes, which are then loaded on to trucks for delivery.  "We're typically picking say 50 different items of different shapes and sizes, and how dense we pack them is absolutely critical to the economics of our business.  "If we put one thing per box on the road, then we're going to use a lot of vans very inefficiently."   Ocado sell its system to supermarkets all over the world, but those customers are demanding ever greater efficiency, so training robots to pack the bags would make economic sense…  Ocado is paying $262m (£198m) for Kindred Systems, a San Francisco-based firm that makes a robotic sorting systems.   In addition, it is buying Las Vegas-based Haddington Dynamics for $25m (£19m) which makes lighter-weight, and highly sensitive robotic arms.’

Uber wins big over gig workers in California Prop 22 vote

Fast Company 04.11.20

Disappointing news for the drivers.  I guess they did not have the lobbying funds needed:

‘Uber, Lyft, and other ride-share and delivery companies have won huge on Election Day in California. Voters in the state cast their ballots in favor of Proposition 22, which says that app-based drivers are to be classified as contractors and not employees. The passing of Proposition 22 effectively negates the Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) law, which went into effect in January of this year in California. The law mandated that drivers who work more than 15 hours per week be classified as employees…  As The Guardian reports, Proposition 22 became the most expensive prop campaign in state history thanks to tech giants such as Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and DoorDash. Such companies opened up their coffers to the tune of $200 million to drum up support for the measure. As Nicole Moore, a gig worker who is also a member of Rideshare Drivers United, one of the groups who sought to defeat Prop 22, pointed out, the $200 million spent by Big Tech was 20 times more than opposing groups spent.’

The Future of Jobs Report 2020

Wolrd Economic Forum 20.10.20

AI skills, data management, analytics… A whole lot of traditional labour skills evaporate in this new landscape:

'The pace of technology adoption is expected to remain unabated and may accelerate in some areas. The adoption of cloud computing, big data and e-commerce remain high priorities for business leaders, following a trend established in previous years. However, there has also been a significant rise in interest for encryption, non-humanoid robots and artificial intelligence…  Automation, in tandem with the COVID-19 recession, is creating a ‘double-disruption’ scenario for workers. In addition to the current disruption from the pandemic-induced lockdowns and economic contraction, technological adoption by companies will transform tasks, jobs and skills by 2025…  Although the number of jobs destroyed will be surpassed by the number of ‘jobs of tomorrow’ created, in contrast to previous years, job creation is slowing while job destruction accelerates. Employers expect that by 2025, increasingly redundant roles will decline from being 15.4% of the workforce to 9% (6.4% decline), and that emerging professions will grow from 7.8% to 13.5% (5.7% growth) of the total employee base of company respondents. Based on these figures, we estimate that by 2025, 85 million jobs may be displaced by a shift in the division of labour between humans and machines, while 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms.’

U.S. senators ask Amazon if it tracks employees, curbs bids to form unions

REUTERS 15.10.20

Amazon’s been getting away with too many liberties:

‘“The fact that Amazon has decided to heavily invest in systems to retaliate against freedom of expression about unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, and to refer to organizing and workers’ rights mobilization efforts as threats against the company equal to those posed by hate groups and terrorism, is unacceptable,” the letter led by senator Brian Schatz said.  In September, a research paper from the Open Markets Institute, a Washington-based research and advocacy group, also said Amazon relies on extensive worker surveillance to boost employee output and potentially limit unionization efforts around the United States. reut.rs/31bhOP2'

Leaked: Confidential Amazon memo reveals new software to track unions

VOX 06.10.20

Amazon, one of the richest company in the globe and owned by the richest man on earth, wants to axe union efforts:

‘The 11-page document, dated February 2020, describes Amazon’s plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to better analyze and visualize data on unions around the globe, alongside other non-union “threats” to the company related to factors like crime and weather. Out of 40 or so data points listed in the memo, around half of them were union-related or related to employee issues, like mandatory overtime and safety incidents. The memo requested staffing and funds to purchase software that would specifically help consolidate and visually map data from three different Amazon groups, led by employee relations (which is part of human resources), along with Amazon’s Global Intelligence Unit and Global Intelligence Program.’

'I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots’

BBC 29.09.20

Spying on employees is counter-productive and erodes trust:

'"Monitoring employee behaviour can be a justifiable way to reduce the risk of misconduct and potentially help manage performance," says Jonny Gifford, senior adviser for organisational behaviour research at the CIPD.  "However, employers should have clear policies so that workers know how they may be monitored, and crucially, it must be proportionate."   Employers will get "much better results" by supporting employees, he adds, "rather than focusing on potentially irrelevant measures of input, such as the number of keystrokes”.  Jonathan Rennie, partner at UK law firm TLT, also urges caution for firms considering introducing such software. Employers have an implied legal duty to maintain their employees' trust and confidence, and need to be mindful of how employees might react to the mass roll-out of monitoring software," he says.  He suggests that any firms using monitoring software should have written policies in place explaining how and why it is being used.  There should also be clear guidance for managers and safeguards in place to prevent misuse or "over-monitoring", he says.’

Google and Microsoft staff set to join the UK’s first tech trade union

WIRED 22.09.20

Very good news for all tech employees:

‘A group of workers have launched the UK’s first union branch dedicated exclusively to the tech sector to tackle issues ranging from working conditions to racial injustice and the climate crisis. The United Tech and Allied Workers (UTAW), a branch of the Communications Workers Union, plans to recruit tech and digital workers, as well as non-tech workers employed by tech companies… “If you are in a tech company and you have a problem, whatever that is, either you don't agree on the direction the company is taking or you have a dispute with your employer, currently your only recourse is to leave the company and find another,” says Stubbs. “It's currently viable, but it is not really a way to live your life. What I would really like to see is workers fighting or making their voices heard rather than moving on.”’

Corporate snitches are using screen monitoring to find and fire slackers

WIRED 21.09.20

Employers are struggling for ways to spy on their workers:

‘Meanwhile, time-tracking programs such as Gusto and Harvest, both used in Matthew’s business, are utilised when projects are counted by the hour. It’s another form of monitoring productivity. “I don’t find it awkward as we don’t have to use it that often – it’s not a big part of our tech stack,” Matthew says. “We’re not big micro-managers. We could be like that: in [project management tool] Basecamp you can see people’s output and productivity at a pretty granular level. But our goal is performance based…”  So, is the answer monitoring technology? “They’ll need to turn to other data sources,” Bradshaw explains. “But doing that in terms of ‘me monitoring you’ is a recipe for psychological discomfort in any company. Any monitoring has to be fully negotiable and transparent, so it becomes ‘us monitoring each other.’”’

Amazon seeks intelligence analysts to track down ‘labor organizing threats,’ calls job listings a mistake after backlash

RT 02.09.20

I thought criticism about Amazon aiming to disrupt union organising by surveilling their workers was a sign of lazy journalism but no, they have acted asked for one such tech expert in their job listings!:

‘Amazon is in search of “intelligence analysts” capable of tracing “threats” from organized labor, according to two recently surfaced job listings, which the company swiftly deleted after they received attention from the press.   The two job listings said the company was in search of new intel analysts for its Global Intelligence Program, both of which were to be based in the Phoenix, Arizona area. One of the employees would be tasked with tracking “sensitive topics that are highly confidential, including labor organizing threats against the company,” as well as “funding and activities connected to corporate campaigns (internal and external) against Amazon” and other “dynamic situations,” such as protests and geopolitical crises.  Individual analysts will work directly with Sr. Corporate Counsel to compile and provide assessments for use in court filings, up to and including restraining orders against activist groups; intelligence assessments are used by Legal to demonstrate to [a] court of law that activist groups harbor intent for continued illegal activity vis-à-vis Amazon.”..  

The second listing, which made no mention of tracking down “threats,” also refers to labor organizers, saying analysts should be well versed in topics including “organized labor, activist groups, hostile political leaders” as well as “hate groups, policy initiatives, geopolitical issues, terrorism, [and] law enforcement.”The job offers – which appear to have been spotted first by cyber security analyst Joe Slowik – had been posted since January, however Amazon deleted both pages on Tuesday, as the listings made their way into media reports and sparked controversy.’

Uber and Lyft must classify drivers as employees, judge rules, in blow to gig economy

The Guardian 10.08.20

Good news for workers beleaguered by lack of rights:

‘A California judge has issued a preliminary injunction that would block Uber and Lyft from classifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.  The move on Monday came in response to a May lawsuit filed by the state of California against the companies, which alleged they are misclassifying their drivers under the state’s new labor law... That law, known as AB5, took effect on 1 January. The strictest of its kind in the US, it makes it more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees who are entitled to minimum wage and benefits. The lack of workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits for drivers has become increasingly urgent during the coronavirus pandemic, as ridership plunges and workers struggle to protect themselves.’

How do you control an AI as powerful as OpenAI's GPT-3?

WIRED 27.07.20

Humans will go for any new tool to make their life easier:

‘Despite the ease of use, there could be serious consequences. Flooding the internet with fake news, for example. This was a key concern with GPT-2 as well, but this newest iteration would make mass producing content even easier. In another recent Twitter thread, Pesenti continued his critique of GPT-3 flaws, suggesting that OpenAI should have discouraged risky services like Kumar’s from the get go. But without early experimentation, many issues could sneak by unnoticed. Bias and fake news are problems we can easily predict, but what about the stuff we can’t?   “There’s doubtless a lot of biases we haven't even noticed yet,” says Anders Sandberg, a senior researcher at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we started to use systems like this as tools to detect the weird biases we have.”’

An AI hiring firm says it can predict job hopping based on your interviews

Technology Review 24.07.20

The age of interviews is sadly coming to a close:

‘The firm in question is Australia-based PredictiveHire, founded in October 2013. It offers a chatbot that asks candidates a series of open-ended questions. It then analyzes their responses to assess job-related personality traits like “drive,” “initiative,” and “resilience.”.. Machine-learning-based personality tests, for example, are increasingly being used in hiring to screen out potential employees who have a higher likelihood of agitating for increased wages or supporting unionization. Employers are increasingly monitoring employees’ emails, chats, and other data to assess which might leave and calculate the minimum pay increase needed to make them stay. And algorithmic management systems like Uber’s are decentralizing workers away from offices and digital convening spaces that allow them to coordinate with one another and collectively demand better treatment and pay.  None of these examples should be surprising, Newman argued. They are simply a modern manifestation of what employers have historically done to suppress wages by targeting and breaking up union activities.’

Covid-19 could accelerate the robot takeover of human jobs

Technology Review 17.06.20

Robot take-over under the guise of facilitating dangerous tasks:

’Future robots could free up human workers from tasks more likely to injure them.   But the pandemic may change this calculus. Before covid-19 hit, many companies—not just in logistics or medicine—were looking at using robots to cut costs while protecting humans from dangerous tasks. Today humans are the danger, potentially infecting others with the coronavirus. “Now the challenge is that a minimum-wage laborer might actually be a carrier,” says Henrik Christensen, director of the Contextual Robotics Institute at UC San Diego.   This makes human labor, increasingly, a liability… 

A report from Oxford Economics last year estimated that 20 million global manufacturing jobs could be lost to automation by 2030, 8.5% of the worldwide total. It’s clear already that “entry-level, unskilled-labor jobs are going away because of robots,” said Jon Fox, who coordinates workforce training through a local community college at InTech. “Those are the sorts of jobs most people don’t want to stay in for their entire life.” The people who can retrain as robot wranglers might end up making better money in the long run.   But not everyone will. Aging workers who don’t want to go back to school, people who can’t take the time to retrain for a new field, or those who just don’t have the physical or mental wherewithal to become robot fixers could end up being left behind.’

Microsoft sacks journalists to replace them with robots

The Guardian 30.05.20

Algorithm take-over:

‘Dozens of journalists have been sacked after Microsoft decided to replace them with artificial intelligence software…  A spokesperson for the company said: “We are in the process of winding down the Microsoft team working at PA, and we are doing everything we can to support the individuals concerned. We are proud of the work we have done with Microsoft and know we delivered a high-quality service.”  A Microsoft spokesperson said: “Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time to time, re-deployment in others. These decisions are not the result of the current pandemic.”

Many tech companies are experimenting with uses for Artificial Intelligence in journalism, with the likes of Google funding investment in projects to understand its uses, although efforts to automate the writing of articles have not been adopted widely.’

ILO chief: Workers in informal economy face 'utter destitution’ VIDEO

Al-Jazeera 23.05.20

With 305 million estimated lost jobs due to this fear-laden overblown pandemic, Guy Ryden, Director General for the ILO makes a compelling case for protecting workers’ and migrants rights in this video.  Highly succinct and compelling argument to watch.

60 Million People Could Be Driven Into Extreme Poverty Due to the Pandemic

Truthout 21.05.20

The deaths of the virus will be far outweighed by its mishandling:

'It identified two variables that are most likely to determine which areas are pushed into extreme poverty, including “the impact of the virus on economic activity” and “the number of people living close to the international poverty line.”  The World Bank also speculated last month that sub-Saharan Africa would be the hardest hit economically by the pandemic, even though it was expected to be one of the regions less hard hit by the virus itself.  “At the country-level, the three countries with the largest change in the number of poor are estimated to be India (12 million), Nigeria (5 million) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2 million),” the World Bank wrote. “Countries such as Indonesia, South Africa, and China are also forecasted to have more than one million people pushed into extreme poverty as a consequence of COVID-19.”’

California sues Uber, Lyft over misclassifying drivers as contractors

REUTERS 05.05.20

Quite rightly too:

‘California and three of its largest cities on Tuesday sued Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc, accusing them of classifying their drivers improperly as independent contractors instead of employees, evading workplace protections and withholding worker benefits… Uber in December sued to block the new law, which is known as AB5, arguing that it punished app-based companies. The company on Tuesday said the new lawsuit was unfairly and arbitrarily singling out ride-hailing companies, but also posed a threat to independent workers across industries.’ 

Amid food shortage fears, will Italy legalise migrant workers?

Al Jazeera 05.05.20

Slave labor (there is no other word) in Europe’s agricultural sector, is a hard one for democratic policies:

‘Inland from Italy's picture-perfect vineyards and turquoise beaches in the southern Puglia region, 32-year-old Sierra Leonean Ibrahim Bah wakes up in a shantytown filled with huts made of cardboard and wood.  For 12 hours a day, he picks asparagus. When he is paid the full amount, he earns 3.50 euros ($3.83) an hour - 42 euros ($45.91) a day…

Oxfam said prices in the chain have become "divorced from the costs of ethical production", adding that this dynamic increase the likelihood producers will continue to exploit workers.  "The regularisation would be a positive step, but it's just a patch," said Cesare Fermi, director of the NGO INTERSOS's migration programmes.  "Farmers are strangled by the current economic system based on large-scale distribution, and migrants are the victims of it”.’

Hundreds of staff i’

Hundreds of staff i’

Hundreds of staff injured at Amazon UK warehouses, GMB claims

BBC 18.02.20

‘GMB union numbers show 240 reports of serious injury or near misses were sent to the Health and Safety Executive last year, and 622 over three years… For injuries to be included in the figures they need to be serious enough to stop a worker performing their normal duties for at least seven days, or be on a list including fractures, amputation, crushing, scalping or burning… 

Mick Rix, GMB national officer, said: "Amazon are spending millions on PR campaigns trying to persuade people its warehouses are great places to work. But the facts are there for all to see - things are getting worse.  "Hundreds of stricken Amazon workers are needing urgent medical attention. Conditions are hellish. We've tried over and over again to get Amazon to talk to us to try and improve safety for workers. But enough is enough - it's now time for a full parliamentary inquiry.”'

Prepare For ‘Robomageddon’: New Study Says AI Makes Jobs Easier, But Worse For Workers

Forbes 10.02.20

‘Opinions are closely divided on the question of whether technology will create more jobs than it displaces: 41% believe this will be true, but 47% disagree. The level of skepticism exceeds a majority among women (52%); workers over the age of 39 (51%); rank-and-file workers (55%); and workers in the manufacturing sector (54%). The strong perception that robots and automation “are bad for American workers” is even stronger among workers with only a high-school education (66%) and workers in the retail sector (68%). Significantly, there is virtually no difference of opinion on this issue between workers at firms that have recently automated (57%) and workers at firms that have not recently automated (59%).  These negative attitudes stand in stark contrast to the positive sense that technology is improving morale and making workers’ jobs easier.’

UN report: half a billion people struggle to find adequate paid work

The Guardian 20.1.10

A report shows that 500 million people are out of work:

‘Calling for urgent efforts to ensure that all types of paid work are also of decent quality, Guy Ryder, the director general of the ILO, said: “For millions of ordinary people, it’s increasingly difficult to build better lives through work.  “Persisting and substantial work-related inequalities and exclusion are preventing them from finding decent work and better futures. That’s an extremely serious finding that has profound and worrying implications for social cohesion.”  The ILO said countries around the world were missing out on the potential economic and social benefits of a huge pool of human talent.  In a stark assessment of the risks from underemployment, it said the lack of productive, well-paid jobs meant more than 630 million workers worldwide lived in extreme or moderate poverty on incomes of less than $3.20 (£2.46) a day. Despite a gradual trend to reduce global poverty levels, it said that these people lacked adequate income to escape destitution.’

Four ways governments can leverage 4IR to achieve the SDGs

World Economic Forum 20.1.20

And another that lays out how the tech revolution will greatly divide countries between poor and wealthy:

‘There is an urgent need for governments in LMICs to weigh up the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital economy and develop appropriate policies to maximise the benefits from digitalization, complementing both national and regional priorities for achieving the SDGs. The opportunities presented by the digital revolution are enormous but, if not managed properly, they could be outweighed by the risk that they will exacerbate existing inequalities and/or create new ones, slowing progress towards the SDGs.’

The jobs forecast is unsettled. It's time for a reskilling revolution

World Economic Forum 20.1.20

The new workforce should be tech-skilled - from an article by  Peter Hummelgaard,  Minister for Employment, Ministry of Employment of Denmark at Davos 2020:

‘A recent report found 61% of citizens worldwide believe their current job will be affected by technological changes and globalization.  People cannot just be replaced by machines or artificial intelligence. But automation and artificial intelligence can have both a positive and negative impact on jobs. They can create new opportunities, new jobs and remove hard labour and poor working conditions if we approach it in the right way. If not, these technologies might remove jobs and create challenges for both skilled and unskilled workers. That's one of the reasons why we need upskilling and reskilling.’

Will robots really steal our jobs?

PwC 2018

PwC report on AI:

‘AI and robotics will be disruptive for labour markets and some jobs will be displaced or fundamentally changed in nature. But many new jobs will also be created and the long term net effect should be positive for the economy as a whole. Business and government need to work together to help people through the transition to this brighter future and ensure that as many people as possible share in the benefits from these new technologies.’