Boulder Jobs Among Least At Risk For Robot Invasion

BOULDER, CO -- The robot takeover of jobs — sometimes referred to by industry experts and academics as the much less-threatening sounding “automation” — will affect all of America, but some states and metro areas are more at risk than others. Boulder is apparently not one of them.

That’s according to a new report by The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank that ranked Colorado 43rd in the country when it comes to highest potential for automation. While the authors stressed that the risk of robots snatching up jobs is highest in Heartland states, the state-by-state variation is actually relatively narrow, ranging from 48.7 and 48.4 percent in Indiana and Kentucky to 42.9 and 42.4 percent in Massachusetts and New York.

The report noted that the map shows a clear pattern — the 19 states in the Heartland have an average employment-weighted automation potential of 47 percent of current tasks, compared with 45 percent for the rest of the country.

“Much of this exposure reflects Heartland states’ longstanding and continued specialization in
manufacturing and agricultural industries,” the authors wrote.

Here are the 10 states at most risk for automation:

1. Indiana, 48.7 percent
2. Kentucky, 48.4 percent
3. South Dakota, 48.3 percent
4. Iowa, 48 percent
5. Nevada, 48 percent
6. Arkansas, 48 percent
7. Alabama, 47.9 percent
8. Wyoming, 47.8 percent
9. Mississippi, 47.7 percent
10. Wisconsin, 47.5 percent

“In short, many places that contended with significant dislocation from IT era automation in sectors like manufacturing and transportation during the last several decades can anticipate more of it,” the report warned.

Perhaps more interestingly, community-level data showed a sharp variation when it comes to automation risk. Smaller, more rural areas were “significantly more exposed” to the robot invasion, and smaller metros were more vulnerable than larger ones.

“The average worker in a small metro area with a population of less than 250,000, for example, works in a job where 48 percent of current tasks are potentially automatable,” the report said.

In some communities, such as Kokomo, Indiana, and Hickory, North Carolina, as many as 55 percent of jobs could be done with robots. Here’s how vulnerable Boulder is to automation:

Boulder was 374th out of 381 metro areas ranked by the Brookings Institute, but 42.5 percent of jobs still stand to be impacted.

Automation and artificial intelligence will affect tasks in virtually all job categories in the future, but its effects will be felt hardest by those in “routine,” predictable physical and cognitive tasks. Among the most vulnerable jobs — office administration, production,
Transportation and food preparation.

“Such jobs are deemed ‘high risk,’ with over 70 percent of their tasks potentially automatable, even though they represent only one-quarter of all jobs,” the authors wrote.

Those in such positions now might consider moving to more secure industries. Some involve complex, “creative” professional and technical roles and high education requirements. Other, low-paying options include personal care and domestic service work, which require activities that aren’t routine or require interpersonal social and emotional intelligence.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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