A 5-year American Community Survey found that Latinos had the highest risk of job automation of any ethnic or racial group.
Latinos are driving Arizona’s population growth and workforce.
However, they hold positions that are more likely to be phased out with the use of technology, a term coined as automation.
That’s why the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute wanted to highlight challenges faced by Latino workers in Arizona that hold high automation risk occupations.
Using data from the 2023 5-year American Community Survey, the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute put together a report that highlights some of the challenges that Arizona’s Latino workers face, who are employed in high-risk occupations.
The analysis discovered that retail salespersons, drivers, sales workers, truck drivers and cashiers were the most at risk, potentially impacting workers aged 16 and older and most likely men.
Other jobs include construction laborers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers and cooks.
“We found that Latino workers were the only racial or ethnic group that was overrepresented in high-risk occupations,” said Citlali Tejeda, undergraduate student and policy fellow at the Institute.
Even though low-wage service sector jobs in retail, hospitality and building have accounted for regional job growth, many of these roles have become subject to automation leaving fewer economic prospects for Latino workers without a college degree.
“Not only are they overrepresented in these occupations that are most at risk but they also face a lot of structural barriers,” Tejeda said.
Barriers such as having a limited English proficiency, lack of education or high school diploma are more likely to affect Latino men.
Latina women on the other hand, face a different set of challenges.
“Latina women in high automation risk occupations are paid less than non-Latina peers in the same jobs and they’re also underrepresented in entrepreneurship,” Tejeda said.
According to the report, about 24% of Latinos in high-risk positions were also in households without a computer and 19% did not have access to high-speed internet.
“That digital divide is going to be a really important part of this story because access to technology is going to be important for having access to training programs, job applications and the other tools that are needed to upskill,” Tejeda said, noting that the Institute has called for bold investments in education, training and digital access especially for workers without legal status.
About 29% of Latino men in high-risk jobs are noncitizens while 15% are Latina women.
“I think it’s going to be really important in bridging these gaps to ensure that no one is left behind in this technological shift,” Tejeda said.
Some of the other key findings from the report were that young Latinos in high-risk jobs are less likely to be enrolled in school, only 38% were and 24% of Latinos at risk are likely to live in low-income conditions or experience poverty, 10%.
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