E-commerce Jobs to Soften Impact of Automation in Manufacturing: Portland SEO's Augusto Beato

Increased employment in e-commerce would compensate on job loss caused by automation in the manufacturing industry, according to digital marketing expert Augusto Beato.

"As manufacturing companies continue to invest technologies, fewer people are needed to run factories," says Beato, who is the CEO of Portland SEO. "The good news is that people may find alternative employment in warehouses and distribution centers, which will add 452,000 workers due to the e-commerce boom."

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The National Association of Manufacturers said about 500,000 manufacturing jobs are open due to a severe skills gap. The Manufacturing Institute projects that by the year 2025, some 2 million jobs within the industry will go unfilled due to lack of skilled workers.

According to Carolyn Lee, executive director of the Manufacturing Institute, there is a lack of skilled workers to fill open jobs. "Part of the reason for this challenge is that people don't understand what modern manufacturing is all about," says Carolyn Lee, executive director of the Manufacturing Institute. "People think of manufacturing as old and antiquated when it's not."

The evolution of manufacturing can be felt instantly at Rockwell Automation's Twinsburg, Ohio, facility which is sleek and outfitted with a connected enterprise system, helping to automate procedures for workers and increase efficiency.

Meanwhile, much of those jobs generated by e-commerce firms will be located closer to big cities, as companies invest more and more money in fast delivery.

E-commerce also has created the new factory town, bringing jobs back to former manufacturing sites. An example is Campbellsville, Kentucky which has about 26,000 residents — and 20 percent of its working population works in e-commerce. That's largely due to two Amazon fulfillment centers.

Ottawa, Kansas, also a town of about 26,000 people, has 15 percent of its working population in e-commerce jobs thanks to a pair of big Walmart and American Eagle distribution centers in town. Mount Vernon, Illinois, which has long been home to a Walgreens distribution center, has 9.5 percent of its working population in warehousing jobs.

"However, the scores of warehousing jobs supporting many rural American towns are also among the most vulnerable to automation," warns Beato.

David Egan, global head of industrial & logistics research at CBRE, an investment and market research firm, said that due to automation "there is absolutely a portion of this workforce that at some point over time is not going to be needed."