Just in time for the Emerging Issues Forum next week (“Future Work”), new data documents just how significant a threat the rise of the robots is to human workers: 47 percent of jobs in the U.S. could be automated.

Raleigh is well positioned as a job market where the rapidly approaching tsunami of robotic workers as replacements for humans sweeps worldwide. Greensboro, meanwhile, ranks among the most vulnerable.Yet nearly 40 percent of jobs in Raleigh could be turned over to robots.

Are you among the “four” headed for the technology trash bin?

So what are cities supposed to do? Leaders in this region have in many ways been operating at “full speed” ahead. It’s time for “battle speed.” Ditto for the entire state, where manufacturing and farming remain such important segments of the economy as regularly noted by economists such as Dr. Michael Walden at N.C. State and others. (The tech threat discussed at length during a recent forum.)

A new study “Technology at Work v2.0:The Future Is Not What It Used to Be” from Oxford University and Citi, recommends some ideas after this warning:

“To protect against jobs being eliminated due to automation, it is important to recognize which characteristics are most likely to be associated with a given job being automated — perception and manipulation, creative intelligence, and social intelligence are the three bottlenecks to automation.

“Cities and regions that have invested in skilled industries remain relatively safe from automation and technological dynamism will remain the best way to maximize employment and to benefit positively from new technologies.

“Education is also a very important tool that policymakers will need to leverage in preparation for the effects of accelerated technological change.”

Drilling down

The authors have some ideas about trends and opportunities. (Note: The Skinny incorporates some observations based on coverage of technology – and involvement in it as an entrepreneur and manager – in the Triangle dating back to 1992.)

  • “[T]he best way forward for cities looking to reduce their exposure to automation is to boost their technological dynamism and attract more skilled workers,” the researchers write.

Raleigh and the Triangle have been at the forefront of transformative efforts for years. This study notes Raleigh’s richness and the percentage of new industry workers (albeit around 2 percent) compared to other metro areas has already positioned this region as at least being able to cope better than cities such as Greensboro (Triad), which is still heavily focused on manufacturing.

  • “The cities that are least exposed to automation have been substantially more innovative in terms of patent output, have created more new businesses and managed to shift their workforce into new and emerging industries, over the past decade,” the report notes.

Look at the Triangle’s booming downtowns, startup hubs, and the transformation taking place in 50-plus-old Research Triangle Park. Many of our leaders have understood the potential of where technology could take our communities, from education to retraining.

But if robots can replace 40 percent of you and your coworkers, it’s same to assume you want more action to be taken faster – or you want to pitch in and help.

What companies might lead the way? Where might more efforts be focused?

  • “Examples of such industries include video and audio streaming, online auctions and web design,” the authors point out.

Various groups are working on attracting more highly skilled talent to this area. The study applauds such efforts.

  • “Because technological change has recently been skill-biased, attracting skilled workers is also increasingly crucial,” the study explains. “[N]ew industries that emerged throughout the 2000s are substantially more skill-intensive than other industries.”

Amen to that. It’s easier to express how technology HASN’T transformed your existing job than to recount the endless number of changes made in the aftermath of the Internet and “dot com” explosions.

  • “Furthermore, workers in industries that experienced rapid technological change earn much higher wages: the average wage for workers in new industries is more than twice the US median wage. In other words, initially skilled cities have created even more jobs for skilled workers,” the authors note.
  • “Crucially, these new industries have mainly appeared in urban locations. In particular, cities that were already dense in college-educated workers experienced substantially more additions of new industries
  • “It is also noteworthy that many cities with high fractions of new industries are well-known for their specialization in information technology.”

Again, Raleigh/Triangle holds up well as data in the study shows..

But now is hardly the time for community, industry and political leaders to rest on the region’s collective laurels.

Imagine what unemployment will be a decade from now if the continuing call to action to modernize our work force’s skills and to train young people in STEM for tomorrow doesn’t gear up to “battle speed.”

Cities under least robotic jobs threat:

  1. Boston 38.4%
  2. Washington D.C. 38.4%
  3. Raleigh 39.7%
  4. Baltimore 40.4%
  5. New York 40.7%
  6. Bridgeport 41.1%
  7. Toms River 41.2%
  8. Richmond 41.4%
  9. Minneapolis 41.4%
  10. Denver 41.5%
  11. San Francisco 41.7%

Cities under most robotic jobs threat in descending order to highest risk:

11. Houston 45.8%

10. Sacramento 45.9%

9. Dayton 46.0%

8. Los Angeles 47.0%

7. Harrisburg 47.1%

6. Oklahoma City 47.1%

5. Grand Rapids 47.9%

4. Reading 48.4%

3. Greensboro 48.5%

2. Las Vegas 49.1%

1. Fresno 53.8%

Want more details? Read the full study at:

http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/reports/Citi_GPS_Technology_Work_2.pdf