A story published in the Associated Press highlights the conundrum presented to employers who have trouble filling positions in companies located in small towns with low unemployment rates.
The company in question, Batesville Tool & Die, was seeking to fill 70 jobs in a town of around 7,300 people located in Indiana. The company was competing for candidates against such brand names as Honda and Cummins Engine.
"You could count on one hand how many people in the town were unemployed," said Jody Fledderman, the CEO. "It was just crazy.''
Batesville Tool & Die eventually managed to fill just 40 of its vacancies. Just a year ago, harbingers of economic doom were ringing the alarm of inflation and even recession on the near horizon.
However, the U.S. economy grew by 3.3% in the last quarter. Not only did the country avoid a recession, but it added hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Apparently, more jobs than can be readily filled.
To increase production and get around the lack of suitable candidates, Batesville Tool & Die invested in robots that could do the work of human workers and vision systems that allowed robots to "see" what they were doing.
Worker Shortages
Worker shortages have led many other companies to invest in the same manner as Batesville.
Contrary to the worst nightmares of many naysayers, robots are not "stealing" our jobs but doing the jobs that companies simply cannot find people for.
Companies are also reportedly training the employees they currently have to use advanced technology for increased productivity.
Productivity Boom
The productivity boom that appears to be occurring in the United States has several determining factors. The steady economic growth and low unemployment amid very high interest rates meant to reel in inflation would normally lead to a recession, according to many financial analysts.
But that's where the robots come in. By training employees to use and work with advanced machinery, productivity is increased by the hour. This boosts profits and raises employees' pay, in theory, without having to raise prices.
Thus, inflation is hogtied.
Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, has likened surging productivity to "magic beanstalk beans for the economy. ... You can have faster income increases, faster wage growth, faster GDP without generating inflation.''Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm RSM, said, "The last time we saw anything like this was the late 1990s."
