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posted by cmn32480 on Monday August 24 2015, @04:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the but-i-like-being-a-d-head dept.

The NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) has published a new paper examining the increasing requirement for social skills in modern labor markets. Reinforcing some of the lessons of another recent story here on Soylent, the abstract is as follows:

The slow growth of high-paying jobs in the U.S. since 2000 and rapid advances in computer technology have sparked fears that human labor will eventually be rendered obsolete. Yet while computers perform cognitive tasks of rapidly increasing complexity, simple human interaction has proven difficult to automate. In this paper, I show that the labor market increasingly rewards social skills. Since 1980, jobs with high social skill requirements have experienced greater relative growth throughout the wage distribution. Moreover, employment and wage growth has been strongest in jobs that require high levels of both cognitive skill and social skill. To understand these patterns, I develop a model of team production where workers "trade tasks" to exploit their comparative advantage. In the model, social skills reduce coordination costs, allowing workers to specialize and trade more efficiently. The model generates predictions about sorting and the relative returns to skill across occupations, which I test and confirm using data from the NLSY79. The female advantage in social skills may have played some role in the narrowing of gender gaps in labor market outcomes since 1980.

A paywall-free version of the paper is available here.


Original Submission

Related Stories

Humans Are Underrated 24 comments

Tyler Cowen reviews Geoff Calvin's new book Humans are Underrated in an article at the Washington Post:

"Humans Are Underrated" serves up two different books in one, each interesting in its own right. The first offers an overview of recent developments in smart software and artificial intelligence. The reader learns about the bright future of driverless cars; IBM's Watson and its skills at "Jeopardy" and medical diagnosis; and the software of Narrative Science, which can write up stories and, in some cases, cover events as well as a human journalist. The overall message is a sobering one: The machines are now able to copy or even improve on a lot of human skills, and thus they are encroaching on jobs. We won't all have to join the bread line, but not everyone will prosper in this new world. That material is well argued, and those stories are becoming increasingly familiar ground.

The second and more original message is a take on which human abilities will remain important in light of growing computer efficacy. In a nutshell, those abilities are empathy, interpersonal skills and who we are rather than what we do. This is ultimately a book about how human beings can make a difference and how that capability will never go away. It's both a description of the likely future and a prescription for how you or your children will be able to stand out in the world to come.

Here is another bit from the review:

My favorite parts of the book are about the military, an area where most other popular authors on automation and smart software have hesitated to tread. In this book you can read about how much of America's military prowess comes from superior human performance and not just from technology. Future gains will result from how combat participants are trained, motivated, and taught to work together and trust each other, and from better after-action performance reviews. Militaries are inevitably hierarchical, but when they process and admit their mistakes, they can become rapidly more efficient.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:35AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:35AM (#226847)

    Dammit, I'm fucked! Bastards.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:47AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:47AM (#226855)

      You can take solace in the fact that everyone here is old enough to own their own basement instead of needing to live in their mom's.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Monday August 24 2015, @05:34AM

        by hemocyanin (186) on Monday August 24 2015, @05:34AM (#226882) Journal

        Funny you say that. I was out with some friends boating yesterday, got bored, and really wished that I could be at home messing around in the garage (no basement) rather than listening to the inane astrology bunk of a friend of a friend. I did not engage. I took a nap instead.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @05:12AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @05:12AM (#226865)

      I don't see anything new here. Boot-lickers and ass-suckers have always risen to the top. Shit floats, after all.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 25 2015, @06:26AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 25 2015, @06:26AM (#227427)

        > I don't see anything new here. Boot-lickers and ass-suckers have always risen to the top. Shit floats, after all.

        Which explains why, at +5, your post is the highest rated of all posts for this story.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:51AM (#226857)

    Good. We should all be happy.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @07:23AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @07:23AM (#226906)

    I would have made an insightful comment, but I've realized there's no point.
    Anyone that speaks out against the status quo on this shit site gets labeled a troll.

    rest in shit
    digg
    slashdot
    hackernews
    reddit
    soylentnews

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @08:14AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @08:14AM (#226918)

      Hey, the fucker was on topic though.

    • (Score: 2) by threedigits on Monday August 24 2015, @01:29PM

      by threedigits (607) on Monday August 24 2015, @01:29PM (#227011)

      I just modded you funny because of the sheer amount of self-reference and recursiveness in your comment. Well player, Sir.
      Note how this comment is also somewhat recursive, as this kind of social interaction is precisely what the articles talks about.
      And the preceding line makes it a shitty comment, thus leading back to your comment.
      Hey, I think I'm starting to enjoy this!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:41PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @04:41PM (#227099)

      rest in shit
      digg
      slashdot
      hackernews
      reddit
      soylentnews

      Hey, maybe it's you?

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @08:33AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @08:33AM (#226925)

    The female advantage in social skills...

    I thought there were no differences between the sexes, thus all job markets where women are a significant minority are due to patriarchal meddling. Men really aren't better at STEM. Women really don't have better communication skills. Or is there a difference? Too much static to tell honestly.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @10:05AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @10:05AM (#226962)

      I can't tell if you are arguing for biological essentialism, against social conditioning, or if you understand the difference.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @05:35PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @05:35PM (#227132)

        Excellent. My higher education has paid off. Unfortunately now I act just like the professors...well the good ones anyway.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by virens on Monday August 24 2015, @08:54AM

    by virens (5530) on Monday August 24 2015, @08:54AM (#226934)

    Wow, this made my day. An article that mashes up economics (which is not a science, since it does not make predictions better than flipping a coin) and SJW who are destined to destroy everything in the name of fictitious"gender gap".

    Computers don't "perform cognitive tasks of rapidly increasing complexity" - those incredibly smart (and underpaid) software developers write smarter code so the computer can add and multiply zeros and ones in that "complex" way. It is "human labor" is getting dumber thanks to ever-lowering education standards: looking at how those people use computers, I often tell them that doing it on paper is faster.

    To understand these patterns, I develop a model of team production

    Oh please! Economic models are the epitome of failure and pseudoscience - where were your models in 2008 economic meltdown?! Remember what banksters like Bernanke said about subprime mortgages? Their economic models were reliable, yeah.

    Last but not the least:

    The female advantage in social skills may have played some role in the narrowing of gender gaps in labor market outcomes since 1980.

    Apart from this disgraceful wording ("may have played" - is THIS science or astrological horoscope?), I'm still waiting for the list of discoveries, improvements and great ideas that "female workforce" has brought to the table. I mean, except for sexual harassement lawsuits, kicking out better male applicants, and scandalously incompetent CEOs / leaders (Elen Pao who killed Reddit, Fiorina Carlton who killed HP, and Julia Gillard who ruined so many things during her undeserver prime minister tenure in Australia).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:27AM (#226945)

      which is not a science, since it does not make predictions better than flipping a coin

      Are you willing to take this to the logical conclusion though? What about medical research:

      During a decade as head of global cancer research at Amgen, C. Glenn Begley identified 53 "landmark" publications -- papers in top journals, from reputable labs -- for his team to reproduce. Begley sought to double-check the findings before trying to build on them for drug development.

      Result: 47 of the 53 could not be replicated. He described his findings in a commentary piece published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

      Of 47 cancer projects at Bayer during 2011, less than one-quarter could reproduce previously reported findings, despite the efforts of three or four scientists working full time for up to a year. Bayer dropped the projects.

      I'm not sure people understand the true extent of this problem of science posers. Should we still go to the doctor and use hospitals? How can we determine when the argument from authority heuristic makes it worth the risk? There needs to be discussion of this.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:29AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:29AM (#226948)

        Forgot the ref: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/us-science-cancer-idUSBRE82R12P20120328 [reuters.com]

        I really want to emphasize, I just want to see honest discussion of this problem.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @10:24AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @10:24AM (#226966)

          You are absolutely right.
          But you are totally off-topic. Even more off-topic than the OP, just not crazypants angry like he is.

          You should submit it as a story. Reproducibility has been in the news recently too, so I am sure you can find something more recent than 2012 to include.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @05:51PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @05:51PM (#227144)

        I agree that this is a discussion we should be having, especially when it comes to medical care. Where is the large-scale proof that healthcare procedures by professionals of the field actually improves quality of life? Most health improving acts are done by the individuals themselves for little or no money.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @10:03AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @10:03AM (#226961)

      Wow, you critiqued the abstract! So insightful.
      Try actually reading the paper, unless the only contribution you want to make is to spooge your anger all over the comments.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:45PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:45PM (#227250)

      Woah, slow down there misogynist.

      Take the time to register for the Patriarchy Party. [mensrightsedmonton.com]

  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:01AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @09:01AM (#226935)

    It's about keeping the males as basically low level slaves and promoting the women into positions to rule over their enemies (the men).

    The women love this.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @11:26AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @11:26AM (#226979)

    Social skills are also needed for capturing clients. Does not matter if you are straight or monosexual or bisexual. If you can interest clients sexually, and as a result get more business, your skills are needed.

    Something like whoring yourself for your employer.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Monday August 24 2015, @11:40AM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 24 2015, @11:40AM (#226986)

    I show that the labor market increasingly rewards social skills. Since 1980, jobs with high social skill requirements have experienced greater relative growth throughout the wage distribution.

    Can't you read that as punishes non-social skill jobs? So the social skill jobs are the only "good jobs" left?

    A dude who tightens the same screw on an assembly line for 40 years requiring no social skills at all used to make good money, now those jobs are all automated or in China. Repeat tens of millions of times for non-social jobs that can be automated. The result will naturally be that social skill jobs will be the only jobs left, more or less. So obviously real estate agents, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, car salesmen will be "rewarded" if by rewarded you mean "the only folks not downsized and replaced by a robot or a Chinese".

    I donno if you can call that a reward, other than in the sense of the beatings will continue until morale improves.

    Another way to describe

    Moreover, employment and wage growth has been strongest in jobs that require high levels of both cognitive skill and social skill.

    is just plain old income inequality. The winners write the history so the folks with the dough want that coveted status of being smart and schmoozey so what a surprise, that is exactly how they self describe.... What I'm getting at is think of an antisocial behavior like a commissioned sales droid screwing over a customer, if they win in the end, thats going to be re-defined as heroic levels of social skills, not anti-social behavior. Everyone in prison got there thinking they were just gettin' along.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Geezer on Monday August 24 2015, @01:27PM

      by Geezer (511) on Monday August 24 2015, @01:27PM (#227010)

      I think you're on to something here. I took away a similar gist, namely: bullshit is king, or at least the heir-apparent.

      Such has always been the case in bullshit-friendly fields like sales and the law, but now the same rule of bullshit is branching into every segment of the marketplace. Once bullshit becomes the prevailing norm for business and social relationships, social entropy will make bullshit the accepted "good" practice and honesty will indeed become antisocial or deviant behavior.

      Imagine a financial system where feel-good doublespeak replaces sound analysis and prudent advice. Oh, wait...

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Monday August 24 2015, @03:34PM

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 24 2015, @03:34PM (#227060)

        the same rule of bullshit is branching into every segment of the marketplace

        True but also the marketplace is shutting down in non BS friendly areas.

        Working, say, in a foundry, being a BS artist doesn't really pay off. So two dudes, one in foundry one in the sales office, only 50% of jobs require social skills aka lying.

        Once the manufacturing job moves to Japan then Mexico then China you're left with two dudes, one unemployed/disability and one in the sales office, now 100% of jobs require social skills aka lying.

        Obviously if you permanently destroy non-BS jobs, the percentage of BS jobs will increase over time.

        • (Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Monday August 24 2015, @09:08PM

          by pnkwarhall (4558) on Monday August 24 2015, @09:08PM (#227240)

          Obviously if you permanently destroy non-BS jobs, the percentage of BS jobs will increase over time.

          This is not obvious to the average citizen. I agree with you 100%, but look at all the political rhetoric about "creating jobs". Then there's the old adage that "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.' I have been surprised to find that, for many people, what they do is not as important to them as what they get out of what they do (generally, although not exclusively, financial compensation).

          --
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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @06:54PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @06:54PM (#227182)

      > So obviously real estate agents, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, car salesmen will be "rewarded"

      Its like you didn't even read the summary, just the title of the summary and forget TFA.

      This isn't about sales jobs. Its about teams. Its about coordination of resources to maximize effectiveness, and properly value specialists.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @07:36PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @07:36PM (#227206)

        Its about teams. Its about coordination of resources to maximize effectiveness, and properly value specialists.

        Bullshitter says what?

  • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Monday August 24 2015, @11:10PM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Monday August 24 2015, @11:10PM (#227278) Homepage

    Let's assume this is true. What does this say about the current market? There's a decreasing demand for people with the skills to deal with technical problems and an increasing demand for people with the skills to deal with people problems.

    Maybe we should just stop hiring problematic people instead?

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