Automation Industry Gathers in Chicago for Automate 2017 Show

ANN ARBOR, MI - April 3, 2017. Today the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) released a new white paper exploring the impact of automation on employment growth, marking the opening of Automate 2017, North Americas leading show devoted to cutting-edge automation technology and business innovation at Chicagos McCormick Place April 3-6. More than 20,000 attendees are expected to attend Automate 2017, from all 50 states and more than 70 countries. The new white paper titled "Work in the Automation Age: Sustainable Careers Today and Into the Future" examines the impact of automation technologies on the evolving job market, the transformation of job requirements, and the growing shortage of workers trained in advanced technologies.

"As a representative of over 1,000 companies and organizations making up the automation ecosystem, A3 believes it is critically important to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the relationship between automation and jobs," said Jeff Burnstein, A3 president. "Our white paper explores the role that automation plays in job growth and makes recommendations on how governments, industries and institutions can better prepare workers for those lucrative jobs."
The white paper covers some of the most relevant issues around jobs, training, and the inexorable advances in technology that help define the automation age:
• More robots, more jobs. As employers add automation technologies such as robots, job titles and tasks are changing, but the number of jobs continues to rise.
• The skills gap and its impact. Skilled workers are key to companies success and countries economic development, but studies show an increasing skills gap with as many as two million jobs going unfilled in the US manufacturing industry alone in the next decade.
• Changing job titles reflect changing tasks. In the automation age, as in the computer age before it, job titles shift to reflect the impact of technology. A recent study concluded that occupations that have 10% more new job titles grow 5% faster.
• Supply and demand and wages. In the manufacturing industry, which is the largest user of automation today, the skills gap is driving up what are already strong wages and benefits, well over the US average.
• Bridging the skills gap with innovative training. Employers are offering innovative training approaches that give workers alternatives to the traditional (and expensive) high-school-to-college-to-job route.
Further Information
The new white paper titled "Work in the Automation Age: Sustainable Careers Today and Into the Future" may be downloaded at: www.a3automate.org/work-in-the-automation-age
Future of Automation Theater
Throughout the Automate show, a series of panels and presentations will explore automation trends in the "Future of Automation" theater, located near the entrance to the North Hall at McCormick Place. Programming includes:
• Discussion on jobs in the automation age, Monday, April 3 at 10:30 a.m.
• International Federation of Robotics (IFR) CEO roundtable, Monday, April 3 at 1 p.m.
• US-China Robotics Forum, Tuesday, April 4 at 10:15 a.m.
• Forum on "Investing in Automation," Wednesday, April 5 at 10:30 a.m.
• Startup Launch Pad Competition - eight finalists compete for a prize of $10,000, Wednesday, April 5 at 3 p.m.
Registration Open
Attendee registration for Automate 2017 is still open at the following link: www.automateshow.com.
About Association for Advancing Automation (A3)
The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA). RIA, AIA, and MCMA combined represent over 1,000 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward. For more information, please visit our websites: A3 - www.A3automate.org. RIA - www.robotics.org. AIA - www.visiononline.org. MCMA - www.motioncontrolonline.org.