Robots to Take Over 3.5 Million Jobs in Japan
Unlike the Koreans, the Japanese are preparing to embrace our new robot overlords. In fact the Japanese are preparing to hand over their jobs to a mechanical work force. The Machine Industry Memorial Foundation, a Japanese think tank, says that by 2025 robots could be filling 3.5 million jobs formerly filled by a human.
This isn’t necessarily bad thing for friends across the Pacific. It seems that much of Japan’s population is getting older. In fact researchers expect to see a drop in the Japanese work force of about 16 percent by 2030, and filling positions as citizens retire is just part of the problem. The number of elderly people in the country is ballooning, and caring for these citizens may be one of the major industries that robots play an important role in.
The Machine Industry Memorial Foundation doesn’t see robots completely replacing humans, but allowing people the time to focus on more important things. Robots could clean house, monitor the health of the elderly, bathe them, read to your kids, and of course, deliver you a beer.
Researchers expect 40 percent of Japan’s population to be over 65 by the year 2055, making the robot workforce a pressing concern.