(Image: Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times)
Comments from and a study by Beth Gutelius, research director for the Center for Urban Economic Development at UIC and senior research specialist with the Great Cities Institute at UIC, is cited in a Los Angeles Times story regarding the working conditions and high temperatures at a Rite Aid warehouse in Southern California.
“I can imagine some companies really hedging their bets and trying to wait out enough automation so that they reduce human exposure to the heat.” – Beth Gutelius
“I can imagine some companies really hedging their bets and trying to wait out enough automation so that they reduce human exposure to the heat,” said Beth Gutelius, research director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who studies workplace automation. “It’s a pretty dark possibility.”
Robots are not expected to displace large numbers of warehouse workers anytime soon, according to a study Gutelius wrote in 2019.
