Replaced by tech?
In the wake of COVID, employers step up automation, use of robots
As the U.S. economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are turning to greater use of automation, including robots, rather than calling back workers or hiring new ones.
The trend is affecting almost every sector, including manufacturing, distribution, transportation, retail, restaurants, and many types of personal and government services.
Airports have begun been using mobile robots to disinfect their facilities — work that janitors had initially done wearing moon suits and other personal protection equipment.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike eliminated toll collection by hand and switched to a cashless electronic system.
Procter & Gamble, the maker of detergents, diapers, toilet paper and a cornucopia of other household goods, found that strategically adding robots to its assembly lines made it possible to keep more workers on the job — and produce more goods — while complying with social distancing guidelines.
Orders for robots in North America, mostly the U.S., surged 20% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier and was up 16% from the same threemonth period in 2019, well before the pandemic, according to the Association for Advancing Automation. Nearly 10,000 robots were ordered in last year’s fourth quarter, the second-best quarter ever, statistics show.
Although increasing automation has long been a trend, the pandemic — as well as recent trade wars and supply bottlenecks — drove home for managers the high cost of unforeseen disruptions in production.
The World Economic Forum said last fall that 50% of employers plan to step up automation at their firms.
While the makers of cars and car parts have been the dominant users of industrial robots, many more industries today are buying smaller mobile robots. The biggest percentage growth in robot purchases is being seen in the food and consumer goods sector — a reflection of the boom in online shopping over the past year.
“COVID just highlighted that some of this may accelerate because there are potential interruptions to your businesses that you need to be prepared for,” said Mark Lewandowski, P&G’s director of robotics innovation.
What the new push for automation will mean for millions of Americans still idled because of COVID-19 is not so clear.
Nyika Allen, director of aviation for Albuquerque, doesn’t foresee the five robots she bought last year eliminating the 50 custodial staff at the city’s two airports. But she suggested that overall airport employment could be smaller.
Airport merchants are automating, too, with self-check stations and other touchless technology. And Albuquerque recently converted to a mecha
nized screening system for checked bags. “There’s less manpower behind the scenes,” Allen said.
Mike Kelly, a 58-year-old native of Pittsburgh with a family, made about $25 an hour, plus health insurance and a pension plan, as a toll collector on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Even before the pandemic, the state planned to install a high-tech, no-cash system in 2022. But when COVID-19 shutdowns reduced both traffic on the turnpike and the revenue it yielded, plans were moved up by 18 months, laying off some 500 toll collectors and support staff last June.
Kelly reacted quickly. He enrolled in a training course to learn how to operate big trucks and other heavy motorized equipment. Today, he’s working for the turnpike again, this time driving maintenance trucks, snowplows and other vehicles. He was reimbursed for the training, and his pay and benefits are at least equal to those from his toll booth days.Not all of his colleagues from the toll booths have bounced back.
Kelly Armour, 53, was angry and bitter about the layoffs.
“We gave a warm, human aspect to the job, and we were replaced by technology,” she said. “I was only essential when it suited them.”