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tech4people
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Supply Network Guru
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
tech4people   9/12/2012 11:26:04 AM

Jorge,

Have you worked in Retail?

Trust me I have lost count of number of Consumers who have gotten frustrated over excessive Technology upgrades;for what is essentially a very simple Buy/Sell Transaction.

There are very serious limits to how much training/retraining of workers you can do today.

This is something which none of the "technology will solve all our problems" crowd is willing to talking about.

Do read these writers work.

They explain the issues at hand very well.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/08/robots-to-rule-world-taking-all-jobs.html

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/08/looking-ahead-dismal-job-situation-no.html

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2012/09/labor-day-2012-future-of-work.html

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2011/03/great-stagnation-and-innovation-as.html

 

Regards

Ashish.

 

tech4people
User Rank
Supply Network Guru
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
tech4people   9/12/2012 11:21:41 AM
NO RATINGS

Jorge,

Have you worked in Retail?

Trust me I have lost count of number of Consumers who have gotten frustrated over excessive Technology upgrades;for what is essentially a very simple Buy/Sell Transaction.

There are very serious limits to how much training/retraining of workers you can do today.

This is something which none of the "technology will solve all our problems" crowd is willing to talking about.

Do read these writers work.

They explain the issues at hand very well.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/08/robots-to-rule-world-taking-all-jobs.html

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/08/looking-ahead-dismal-job-situation-no.html

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2012/09/labor-day-2012-future-of-work.html

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2011/03/great-stagnation-and-innovation-as.html

 

Regards

Ashish.

 

Mr. Roques
User Rank
Stock Keeper
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
Mr. Roques   9/12/2012 9:31:34 AM
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We'll, it's bad news for clerks but haven't we been talking about RFID for years now? Asking when will it make it to stores and a more consumer-oriented environment. We can't block technology from doing a very limited job - we just need to be sure to train our workers better.

tech4people
User Rank
Supply Network Guru
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
tech4people   8/14/2012 9:36:12 AM
NO RATINGS

Bolaji,

I hope you are right on on this one!

Unfortunately all the Data that I am currently seeing tells me that we are heading for a slowdown;sometime around October or so.

The best comparison;I can give you(for why your thinking won't work) is if you compare the World's Economy with a Boeing 747 Jet;then the Four Engines are America,Europe ,China   and the rest of the world.

We can fly with One Engine down reasonably well;but with Two engines down we see a slowdown and with Three Engines down we definitely Hit recession territory.

Right now  we are One Engine Down[Europe];but it looks like we are about to see a synchronized slowdown with both China and America slowing down at the sametime.The one remainng Engine wont be enough to power  the world Economy ahead.

China in particular is very worrisome.

Australia,Brazil,Canada,Chile,Most of Africa,Most of OPEC exporters,Most of South East Asia,Japan,South Korea and Germany are all totally dependent on Chinese growth.

If China corrects the Bubble we see in these countries (In Wages,Currencies and Housing Valuations)will collapse dramatically with Catastrophic consequences for their Longterm futures.

There are very few other countries which can survive and grow in such an environment-They need to have robust Domestic Economies for that[US,Indonesia ,Scandinavia,Mexico,Some of the OPEC exporters and India come straight to mind].

regards

Ashish.

Bolaji Ojo
User Rank
Blogger
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
Bolaji Ojo   8/13/2012 3:27:29 PM
NO RATINGS

@Ashish, I am likely in the minority but the economic glass is half full and not half empty. Economists talk about the slowing or slow-growing economy but they were the ones who set us up in the first place with false expectations! Is anything likely to grow year-after-year simply because of demographic changes and consumption pattern?

Why should China's economy, for example, continue to increase upper single digit or even lower double-digit every year? The more this happens the greater the likelihood that other parts of the world are being starved of growth. When these regions experience a slowdown in demand or implement policies that initiate growth in their own geographies, this would naturally result in a possible slowdown in some other locations.

I don't believe an economic slowdown is necessarily a bad thing. During times of a slowdown new ideas are given the opportunity to be planted and grow. When firms manage constant growth, they lose the opportunity to conceive of new ideas.

tech4people
User Rank
Supply Network Guru
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
tech4people   8/13/2012 11:44:51 AM

Anand,

Its difficult to say right now.

What is not undisputedis that the Biggest Economies in the world are slowing very visibly.

Japan,Europe, the US ,China,Australia,India and Brazil are all slowing dramatically.

For instance here's what export Economist-David Rosenberg had to say on the US

http://pragcap.com/david-rosenberg-the-coming-negative-export-shock

And then there's China...

http://www.alsosprachanalyst.com/economy/china-economy-staring-down-the-bottomless-pit.html

Not easy at all to predict if we  will really get a recovery in 2013..

I for one believe it will get worse in 2013 before improving sometime in 2014-2015.Of course if the politicians want it can get much worse!!!

Regards

Ashish.

anandvy
User Rank
Supply Network Guru
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
anandvy   8/13/2012 12:19:06 AM
NO RATINGS

Not good times for sure.

@tech4people, I agree with you. These are not good times for sure. When do you think things will start improving ? Many people are predicting 2013 will be year of recovery do you agree ? 

Clairvoyant
User Rank
Supply Network Guru
Re: RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
Clairvoyant   7/31/2012 2:14:31 PM
NO RATINGS

This may be the going trend for many stores to come. Grocery stores have been using them for a while now, as well as Walmart.

tech4people
User Rank
Supply Network Guru
RFIDs for Check out Clerks...This is a worrying Sign for Jobs in America.
tech4people   7/30/2012 10:53:02 AM
NO RATINGS

I was reading this new development at JCPenny and was verry worried for the future Prospects of the unemployed here in America.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/money/business_news/jcpenney-to-get-rid-of-check-out-counters-and-clerks-use-self-check-out-machines-and-rfid-chips

This is not a good sign.

JCPenny has more than a thousand stores in America.Which means Thousands of Jobs will be lost through this business decision.

Not good times for sure.

Regards

Ashish.

 





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