LISTEN: 'Agility Contractor': The Latest Manufacturing Job is a Robot Babysitter episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 24, 2026 · 2 MIN

LISTEN: 'Agility Contractor': The Latest Manufacturing Job is a Robot Babysitter

from IEN Radio · host Eric Sorensen

It’s a fresh example of the potential dystopian future of work.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a factory in South Carolina has deployed a new humanoid robot to its assembly line.The bot, called Digit, is operating in a stamping press area at a Schaeffler auto parts plant, repetitively moving baskets of parts to a conveyor line. And while this type of robotics is a bit emerging in manufacturing, that’s not the unusual part: Wall Street Journal says the factory is paying humans to watch it.Entry level roles at Schaeffler start at $20 per hour and this one is referred to as an “Agility contractor.” More appropriately, it’s a glorified babysitter that observes Digit while it operates within its own plexiglass enclosure for 8 hours a day..And while this scenario is a bit unsettling, its future is, perhaps, moreso.#AI #Robotics #Automation #FutureOfWork #HumanoidRobot #DigitRobot #ArtificialIntelligence #Industry40 #Manufacturing #TechNews #Innovation #Robots #JobAutomation #Workforce #FactoryLife #Engineering #SmartFactory #Technology #DystopianFuture #FutureTech #LaborMarket #AutomationJobs #TechTrends #IndustrialAutomation #NextGenTech

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 24, 2026

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It’s a fresh example of the potential dystopian future of work. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a factory in South Carolina has deployed a new humanoid robot to its assembly line. The bot, called Digit, is operating in a stamping press area at a Schaeffler auto parts plant, repetitively moving baskets of parts to a conveyor line. And while this type of robotics is a bit emerging in manufacturing, that’s not the unusual part: Wall Street Journal says the factory is paying humans to w...

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LISTEN: 'Agility Contractor': The Latest Manufacturing Job is a Robot Babysitter

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