On February 19th, Dr. Stephen Pruitt, President of the Southern Regional Education Board, joined MAX to discuss the impacts of automation on the future of work and how these impacts have been accelerated because of the pandemic. While automation brings forth increased advancement and quality of life, it also has the potential to displace numerous Georgians who do not have the skills to adapt.
Here are some of the key points shared by Dr. Pruitt:
- The pandemic “advanced consumer and business digital adoption” by an estimated 5 years in just eight weeks.
- By 2025, accelerated digital adoption due to the pandemic could eliminate the full-time equivalence of 389,000 positions at the most conservative rate.
- Almost one-third of the total workforce in Georgia is vulnerable overall and 100 percent of the food preparation and serving workforce and 90 percent of the production workforce is vulnerable.
As a result of the above, SREB voices an urgent need to provide more young people with the education that connects the classroom with the workplace and prepares them to succeed in postsecondary education and in-demand careers, careers not vulnerable to automation.
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Launched in 2014, the mission of MAX is to advance economic competitiveness in the Atlanta region by strengthening connections, collaborations, and practices among workforce developers and organizations engaged in workforce development. Through our webinar series, MAX Minutes, MAX seeks to bring timely insights to providers, intermediaries, and other partners in workforce. MAX Minutes features talks by key experts in the Atlanta region and beyond on important workforce matters.