For months now, we’ve been paying attention to the “Great Reshuffling” of the American Workforce, with millions of workers quitting one job to take another, and for many others, pulling out of the workforce entirely.

This shortage of workers is only accelerating the trend toward more and more automation. A few years ago, some alarmists talked about a convergence in which robots would come into the workforce and take away all our jobs. One of the earliest researcher/writers who brought more nuance to this conversation was the book “Race Against the Machines” by Eric Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee,” followed along by their book, “The Second Machine Age.”

In both these books, the authors talk about the reality that jobs will not necessarily be completely replaced by automation and/or robots, but that almost all jobs will be transformed by robots. They say we won’t be working AGAINST the robots but working WITH the robots.

The history of mankind has been one of learning to work with new technologies. But sometimes, the automation in the workplace happens so incrementally that we barely notice it. For instance, you probably use self-check-out touchscreens often in your visits to Target, Wal-Mart or other grocery stores – they were first introduced in 2013, almost 10 years ago. This was a big deal a few years ago and now seems ho-hum. But this form of automation reduces the demand for check-out clerks.

In another context, maybe you’ve used the automated touch screen to place your order at a fast-food establishment. McDonalds first introduced this tech in 2015. With the pandemic, you’ve probably used a phone app to place an order for pick-up. For the first time, three weeks ago, I placed a voice order for food carry out from a restaurant, but my interaction was completely carried out with a “robot” of sorts – that is the order taker was a voice-recognition interface that talked with me in plain English.

These automation tools do, in fact, reduce the need for human workers to do check-out and order-taking functions. However, they don’t necessarily get current workers fired. Rather, they allow management to redistribute the work that workers do. Perhaps, they allow the operation to get by with one or two fewer persons on shift at a time.

Restaurants are certainly hurting for workers right now. I saw a burger restaurant closed entirely during midweek, and I assume it was because of a worker shortage. The restaurant was open later in the week.

What if the burger flipping and other functions could be automated? The technology is already here through the robot called “Flippy.” Take a look at this video showing Flippy at work. Some restaurants are also integrating delivery robots into the workplace. Here’s a food delivery robot at a diner in China. I don’t know if they’ve made their way into the U.S. yet, but with the severe shortages our restaurants are experiencing, it may not be long.

So, what does this mean for the workplace?

There are no simple answers, but in short, as Brynjolkfsson and McAfee predicted, the real challenge is for workers to learn how to work WITH the robots across a wide variety of environments.

What specific skills do we need to work with the robots. I suspect that every worker will also need to get better at sorting through tech menus and getting better at debugging technology glitches and troubleshooting technology that isn’t working just right.

In the same way that we have to learn to fix the settings and troubleshoot problems on our computers and smart phones, we will increasingly need to learn to troubleshoot and debug robot tech and automation tech that isn’t working quite right.

So, here’s a request…

For our tech ed and infotech teachers, could you help us create a simple guide to technology troubleshooting that could be shared across all career pathway programs? This is an applied form of problem-solving, and I think it will become more and more of an issue as workplace automation increases. If you know of anything along these lines that exists – a way to teach technology troubleshooting skills — please send me a note to [email protected].

It really might be one of the keys to work effectively along with the robots!

Hans Meeder is President of the National Center for College and Career Transitions (NC3T) (www.nc3t.com). NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance, and tools. These strategies help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.