A new report finds that New York is more insulated than other states from the effects of automation, thanks in large part to New York City’s hospitality sector, but 12 percent of the state’s workforce could still largely be automated by technology.
The report estimates 1.2 million jobs, most of them in lower-middle class or jobs young people take, like truck driver, fast food worker, or delivery fulfilment, could be automated. And as algorithms become more sophisticated, higher-level jobs—jobs you find on Long Island and in Connecticut—are becoming automated. Matt Chaban, a researcher for the Center for an Urban Future, said, “Answering the phone, providing a lot of tech support, things like that, that can also be done by machines in a way that couldn’t before. And so a place like Long Island…those jobs are equally vulnerable.”
Chaban says it’s not just about getting a college degree anymore. That’s what it was a decade ago. Now it’s about continuously learning new skills.
“We don’t think it’s a moment of panic, but a moment of preparation. It’s really incumbent on the educators, the business leaders, and policymakers to recognize that the changes that are coming and to prepare the workforce.”
Chaban says even CEOs and Wall Street titans are expected to have 25 percent of their work taken over by computersm, which is more than home health aides and janitors.
