Giving Compass' Take:

• Megan Conn explains why Mississippi jobs are particularly vulnerable to automation and shares ways to improve long-term outcomes for employment in the state. 

• How can funders best support Mississippi and other vulnerable places prepare for the future of work? 

• Learn why automation does not need to be labor-displacing. 

Rising use of automated technologies has eliminated thousands of jobs in Mississippi, and many more are at risk, according to a recent report by the Brookings Institution. The report looked at the percentage of tasks — that is, what people actually do at work, rather than the skills needed to perform a particular job — that could be automated. An average of 47.7 percent of the tasks performed by Mississippi’s workforce could be automated using today’s technology, a figure higher than in 41 other states.

At greatest risk are those jobs that consist of largely routine functions, whether manual or clerical. In Mississippi, the study found that truck drivers, wait staff, fast food workers and stock clerks are at the highest risk of having their jobs automated.

Automation affects workers around the world — nearly half of the employers surveyed by the World Economic Forum last year expected automation would reduce their workforce by 2022. But Mississippi’s risk exposure to automation is elevated by a combination of factors.

“Small towns are more exposed than big towns, and rural places more exposed than towns,” said Mark Muro, lead author of the Brookings study. “Black and brown people are more exposed than white people because of educational issues and historic occupational histories. A place like Mississippi is heavily exposed.”

So what can Mississippi do to prepare workers? Experts and educators point to a few strategies — some of which are already being explored by leaders within the state:

  1. Increase access to post-secondary education
  2. Invest in high school career and technical education programs
  3. Value technical education and trades
  4. Develop human skills
  5. Prepare for the future

Read the full article about Mississippi jobs by Megan Conn at The Hechinger Report.