Wages And Robots

Set aside the question of whether robots are taking or creating jobs. At least according to one study, robots are affecting wages – and may be at least partly responsible for the recent stagnation in wage growth. Actually, the robots aren’t responsible for anything. At least for now, they are machines. The people hiring the robots are the ones responsible.

“one extra robot per 1,000 workers could lower wages by as much as 5%” – World Economic Forum

The effect is measured across a population, and can’t be linear. (If the effect was linear, replacing 1% of a workforce with robots would decrease wages 50%, and replacing 100% of a workforce would decrease wages 5000% but wages can only drop by 100%.) So, add yet another factor to downward wage pressures: wages reduced by robots, less effective collective bargaining, more employees being turn into gig workers without benefits, and corporations accumulating rather than reinvesting or distributing wealth. One answer is probably insufficient.

“Wages Are Flatlining Around The World – Is Automation To Blame?” – World Economic Forum