Tausi Insider

A looming recession might provide a big push in the adoption of AI as weak economic conditions always provide the impetus for using machines to cut costs and raise productivity. Martin Meissner/The Associated Press As we prepare to kick off 2023, we are doing so knowing that the global economy is faltering while organizations are still being squeezed by high costs. On top of that, even a recession might not make much difference to the tight labour market they face. With technologies improving by leaps and bounds and companies looking for ways to improve the bottom line, the timing is just right for a huge uptick in AI use in a way that could transform the economy and labour market. When it comes to embracing AI, Canada is near the forefront. According to the 2021 Global Vibrancy Ranking on artificial intelligence from Stanford University, the country is in fifth place, behind the United States, China, India and the United Kingdom. The index is calculated using a number of metrics, i...

A U.S. labour board director has upheld Amazon.com Inc workers’ landmark union victory at a warehouse in New York, according to a decision issued Wednesday, bringing the online retailer closer to having to bargain with staff on a contract. Amazon AMZN-Q has the right to appeal the decision to a wider panel at the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) or can start negotiating with the workers at its JFK8 facility in the New York City borough of Staten Island. “We knew it was unlikely that the NLRB Regional Office would rule against itself, and intend to appeal,” Kelly Nantel, Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement. “We don’t believe this election process was fair, legitimate, or representative of the majority of what our team wants,” Nantel added. The victory marked the first time U.S. staff at Amazon had decided to unionize in the company’s nearly three-decade history, as well as a watershed moment for organized labour, which has taken issue with productivity tracking among ot...

Amazon workers and members of the GMB union hold a strike outside the Amazon warehouse in Coventry, Britain, on Jan. 25. HENRY NICHOLLS/Reuters Amazon AMZN-Q warehouse workers went on strike for the first time in Britain on Wednesday because of a dispute over pay and working conditions, adding to a wave of industrial labour action across the country fuelled by the soaring cost of living. Union members voted to walk off the job for one day at the e-commerce giant’s fulfillment centre in Coventry, a city about 100 miles (160 kilometres) northwest of London near Birmingham. Amanda Gearing, a senior organizer with the GMB union, said Amazon staff who worked through tough conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic are just “trying to get decent pay.” Another big issue is performance targets set by an algorithm that piles extra pressure on workers, she said. The union is fighting for a bigger pay raise than the company’s offer, which it says amounts to an extra 50 pence (61 cents) an hour. Am...