Technology Works to Create Jobs : Are Workers Ready?

Innovation truly has brought new and better high paying jobs and therefore increased prosperity. But the down side that seems to be missing in this report is a large section of the population that prospered from the routine, simple and repetitive jobs will be unable to adjust to the new technologies.

The gap between those that can make the adjustment by becoming more aware that they must become more educated to meet the new demands in the work place, and those that can't make that leap will only become larger, leaving unemployment to grow.

Like the problems that we face today, the thinking that increasing the minimum wages to $15 per hour will benefit those worker that can't be reeducated to live well is a fantasy. Here technology will replace them with a machine causing further erosion in the gap between the haves and the have nots.

Technology Creates More Jobs than it Eliminates
Source: Katie Allen, "Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed

October 5, 2015

 It has been customary for workers to worry about increasing automation, but are machines really taking their jobs or merely easing their workload? A study by economists at Deloitte sought to shed new light on the relationship between jobs and the rise of technology by examining census data for England and Wales going back to 1871.

The study reveals that rather than destroying jobs, technology has created many other jobs. Technology has also increased spending power as demonstrated by the rise in bar staff and hairdressers since the 1950s. The trend we are witnessing is that machines are taking over the more repetitive and laborious tasks, but those losses have been offset by rapid growth in the caring, creative, technology and business services sectors.

In some sectors, technology has clearly cost jobs mostly by substituting human muscle power, such as in agriculture. The report found that in 1871, 6.6% of the workforce of England and Wales were classified as agricultural laborers, today it's only 0.2%. On the other hand, it shows a 909% rise in nursing auxiliaries and assistants over the last two decades.

In some sectors, including medicine, education and professional services, technology has raised productivity and employment has risen at the same time. The study claims that rising incomes have raised demand for professional services.

Technological progress has cut the prices of essentials, such as food, and the price of bigger household items such as TVs and appliances. That leaves more money to spend on leisure, and creates new demand and new jobs. Source: Katie Allen, "Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed