More companies are moving towards automation in order to save on costs. This, however, will have the effect of decreasing the number of workers and in turn, the number of jobs in the country.
It is reported in an article published by Reuters that investment on automation firms have gone up since Election Day. In an effort to keep manufacturing local, firms are relying on efficient technology to quickly bring goods to the market at the expense of workers.
For instance, the fund ownership of Cognex Corp, General Electric Co, and Rockwell Automation Inc. has risen by 80% or more in the present quarter. This is in comparison to the previous quarter.
Other companies include FARO Technologies Inc as well as Middleby Corp. The former, a manufacturer of three-dimensional measuring tools, sees its shares rising by 18.8 percent since November 8.
The shares of the latter, on the other hand, are up by 12.8 percent since the presidential elections. Middleby Corp is a firm that produces kitchen equipment such as robots which can prepare French fries.
What these different companies are doing by moving towards automation is reducing costs as well as labor. A survey by PWC was done on chief executives and 80 percent of the firms that plan to cut jobs anticipate that automation will make up for the loss.
The current political environment has put pressure on firms to keep factories in the country. According to analysts, republicans are going to push incentives directed towards the aforementioned endeavor regardless of the manner in which the work is done, writes Reuters.
There is still, however, the possibility that workers will be retained to accomplish value-added functions, said an analyst at William Blair, Nicholas Heymann. It is not just the food industry that is automating but the finance industry as well.
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