Automation At Work Will Change Our Home Lives
We might think that location doesn’t matter in a hyper-connected, globalized world, but where you’re located matters more now than ever. We live in a clustered world where some areas, like the mega-regions encompassing the Boston-Washington Corridor of the American Northeast, are much more powerful and protected from large-scale workforce changes than others, like rural Ohio.1 North American jobs are mostly knowledge-based, service-oriented, and done in teams. When working with and for others is in the job description, urban areas with more opportunities will win out over rural towns that rely on a single industry. As cities and mega-regions attract more people, technology hasn’t necessarily made the world as equal as we would expect.2
The number of service jobs in the USA has increased dramatically over the past 60 years, while manufacturing jobs have not grown.3
The world’s population is concentrated in urban areas, and this trend is increasing in the coming decades.4
Unfortunately, this means workers in rural areas may be left behind due to the kind of geographic, demographic, and workforce changes that automation brings.5 Of all the groups at risk of automation, older workers in rural areas have the darkest forecast. With few other job opportunities in the region and less flexible education, older, rural workers will face the difficult decision of uprooting their lives and reinventing themselves if rural industries like car manufacturing face automation. Indeed, we may all start rushing into already-packed cities and leaving rural zones even farther behind as AI deepens the divide between areas with and without opportunities.
Our housing needs could change as working from home becomes the norm
Yet, perhaps we don’t all need to move to big cities to bounce back from automation. Technology may not have given every location equal value, but it has given us many opportunities to work remotely and start businesses at home. From woodworking to welding to web design, there are many ways to take up a side hustle (or a new, more fulfilling career) from a distance.
As I’ve learned in the past two months, our homes aren’t set up for daily remote work. When you can pass through the front entrance, den, kitchen, and dining room in six steps without any doorways, there simply isn’t enough room to do everything from home — and if our work situation changes, our idea of acceptable living spaces will change too. Even though automation may drive us towards big cities, changing needs in our homes might make tiny apartments less attractive than they currently are. The size and layout of our houses will need a significant change if we spend all of our waking hours at home.
References
- The World is Spiky. (2005, October). The Atlantic, Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/images/issues/200510/world-is-spiky.pdf.
- Feiock, R. C., Jae Moon, M., & Park, H. J. (2008). Is the world “flat” or “spiky”? Rethinking the governance implications of globalization for economic development. Public Administration Review, 68(1), 24-35.
- Hartung, A. (2015). As goes Apple, so goes the nation: Jobs in the digital service economy. Forbes, Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2015/11/06/as-goes-apple-so-goes-the-nation-jobs-in-the-digital-service-economy/#28e2154a6443
- Musa, S. I., Hashim, M., & Reba, M. N. M. (2017). A review of geospatial-based urban growth models and modelling initiatives. Geocarto International, 32(8), 813-833.
- Case, A., & Deaton, A. (2017). Mortality and morbidity in the 21st century. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 397-476.
- Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy. (2016, December) Executive Office of the President, Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/documents/Artificial-Intelligence-Automation-Economy.PDF.
- Autor, D.H. (2019, May). Work of the Past, Work of the Future. In AEA Papers and Proceedings, 109, 1-32.
- Initiative on Global Markets. (2012, January 24). Inequality and Skills. https://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/inequality-and-skills/
- English, J. (2019). The Commuting Principle That Shaped Urban History. CityLab, Retrieved from: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/08/commute-time-city-size-transportation-urban-planning-history/597055/.
About the Author
Natasha Ouslis
Natasha is a behavior change consultant, writer, and researcher. She started her own workplace behavioral science consulting firm after working as a consultant at fast-growing behavioral economics companies including BEworks. Natasha is also finishing her PhD in organizational psychology at Western University, specializing in team conflict and collaboration, where she completed her Master of Science in the same field. She has a monthly column on workplace behavioral design in the Habit Weekly newsletter and is a Director and science translator at the nonprofit ScienceForWork.
About us
We are the leading applied research & innovation consultancy
Our insights are leveraged by the most ambitious organizations
“
I was blown away with their application and translation of behavioral science into practice. They took a very complex ecosystem and created a series of interventions using an innovative mix of the latest research and creative client co-creation. I was so impressed at the final product they created, which was hugely comprehensive despite the large scope of the client being of the world's most far-reaching and best known consumer brands. I'm excited to see what we can create together in the future.
Heather McKee
BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST
GLOBAL COFFEEHOUSE CHAIN PROJECT
OUR CLIENT SUCCESS
$0M
Annual Revenue Increase
By launching a behavioral science practice at the core of the organization, we helped one of the largest insurers in North America realize $30M increase in annual revenue.
0%
Increase in Monthly Users
By redesigning North America's first national digital platform for mental health, we achieved a 52% lift in monthly users and an 83% improvement on clinical assessment.
0%
Reduction In Design Time
By designing a new process and getting buy-in from the C-Suite team, we helped one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world reduce software design time by 75%.
0%
Reduction in Client Drop-Off
By implementing targeted nudges based on proactive interventions, we reduced drop-off rates for 450,000 clients belonging to USA's oldest debt consolidation organizations by 46%
