MIT has been named the top university in the world for graduate employability by QS, reports Sean Coughlin for the BBC News. The ranking looks at how much universities are likely to boost the future careers of graduates, Coughlin explains, adding that MIT “is known for its high status in technology and innovation.”
QS has selected MIT as the best university in the world in their 2019 Graduate Employability Ranking, reports Rachel Hall for The Guardian. Hall explains that, “the rankings are compiled based on employer reputation, alumni outcomes, partnerships with employers per staff member, employer-student connections and the graduate employment rate.”
A study co-authored by Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson and graduate student Daniel Rock finds that specific tasks, not jobs, are likely to become automated, writes Joe McKendrick for Forbes. The researchers explain that, “machine learning technology can transform many jobs in the economy, but full automation will be less significant than the re-engineering of processes and the reorganization of tasks."
In an article for the Financial Times, Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson writes about his new research showing that advances in machine learning could help fuel a surge in productivity and economic growth around the world. Brynjolfsson writes that as machine learning systems develop, “we can have not only higher productivity growth, but also more widely shared prosperity.”
A new MIT study “offers ideas on job retraining programs for professional drivers and other workers who could be displaced by new technologies,” reports Callum Borchers for WBUR Bostonomix. The researchers hope to “provide a tool for people who might be planning these retraining programs that allows them to see what viable skill transformations exist," says graduate student Morgan Frank.
A study from MIT researchers finds that it is difficult for people to switch from physical work to jobs that require mainly social and cognitive skills, reports Kaveh Waddell of Axios. This “may leave low-wage workers with no recourse when manual labor is turned over to robots,” adds Waddell.
A new paper by Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson argues that machines and automation will replace specific tasks rather than entire jobs, writes Adi Gaskell for Forbes. As an example, Gaskell notes that there are 26 tasks associated with radiologists, and while “analyzing medical images is well suited to AI, interpersonal skills are currently not.”
Research affiliate Christos Makridis writes in Salon that IT skills, “are increasingly required if you want a job with upward mobility and autonomy.” Makridis argues that universities need to help students gain a working knowledge of cloud computing, big data and information security so that they can compete as the job market becomes more geared towards those that are technologically advanced.
A new study co-authored by Prof. Emilio Castilla suggests that MBA candidates with informal endorsements, rather than letters of recommendation, are more likely to be interviewed for a program, writes Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. “Significantly, the researchers found that the endorsed candidates were not otherwise superior to those without endorsements,” explains Jaschik.
A recent study co-authored by Assistant Prof. Danielle Li in Sloan found evidence to support the “Peter Principle,” which theorizes that the best employees do not always make the best managers, reports Rodd Wagner, a contributor for Forbes. The researchers concluded that “promoting based on lower-level job skills rather than managerial skills can be extremely costly.”
Peter Hirst, Assoc. Dean of Executive Education at Sloan, tells Ruth Umoh of CNBC that the best perk you can offer employees is the ability to work from home. “Redesigning how his team works has created motivated and fulfilled employees ‘who are passionate about what they're doing,’” explained Umoh.
Using recent analyses by Prof. Frank Levy, Eduardo Porter of The New York Times explores the notion that AI will eliminate jobs and negatively impact American politics. Prof. Daron Acemoglu suggests that with more employment options in large cities, the backlash “will be more muted than it was when trade took out the jobs of single-industry company towns.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Visiting Lecturer Irving Wladawsky-Berger spotlights MIT’s AI and the Future of Work Conference. Wladawsky-Berger writes that participants, “generally agreed that AI will have a major impact on jobs and the very nature of work. But, for the most part, they viewed AI as mostly augmenting rather than replacing human capabilities.”
Jeff Freilich, associate director of the CSAIL Alliance Program, spoke with Here & Now’s Robin Young about a unique collaboration between MIT researchers and their colleagues in Kentucky, “focused on the future of the work in a part of the country where the coal industry has been hemorrhaging jobs.”
In a Financial Times article, Senior Lecturer Robert Pozen details how the proposed tax plan would encourage employers to relocate US jobs to foreign countries. As a result of the foreign profits minimum tax, countries could “offer a corporate tax rate at 10 percent to US companies if they would relocate their manufacturing or research facilities,” explains Pozen.