Robots in the Workforce | Teen Ink

Robots in the Workforce

May 28, 2014
By Anonymous

It’s no lie that technology has come a long way. From the beginning of time, people have always wanted to find a way to make things simpler and more efficient. But imagine a world where technology took over everything, even your work. Well this isn’t too far off, especially for the growing generations. Technology has become integrated into so many jobs, that there might not even be actual people needed in order to preform those jobs. Although many see the advancements in technology as something that is modernizing and making the world we live in safer and better, that might not always be true. Yes, it is a fact that because of technology advancements in the workforce there has been increases in production at factories and it’s cheaper for most cooperation’s because of the free labor. On the other hand, if all these machines keep taking over jobs, then what is going to be left for the rest of us? Machinery has come too far and needs to be put to a stop so that there can be a balance between population and labor.

There is no denying that machinery can do better work than humans. Computers can now analyze data, organize it, and store it. Skills that used to be valuable for humans to know in many jobs can now easily be done by a computer. Computers also have a smaller margin of error and are way more accurate than humans. People may be asking themselves now, “Why is it necessary to limit technology if it seems to be better for production?” Well, according to the article, “PRACTICALLY HUMAN: CAN SMART MACHINES DO YOUR JOB?”

To better understand the impact of technology on jobs, The Associated Press analyzed employment data from 20 countries; and interviewed economists, technology experts, robot manufacturers, software developers, CEOs and workers who are competing with smarter machines… The AP found that almost all the jobs disappearing are in industries that pay middle-class wages, ranging from $38,000 to $68,000. Jobs that form the backbone of the middle class in developed countries in Europe, North America and Asia. - (Wiseman, Condon and Fahey)
The middle class is only expanding, and as it keeps expanding so should the jobs. That is not what is happening though. The most common jobs that are being taken by machines are those of the middle class. In an online article titled, “The Swelling Middle”, the author states,
“By 2030, it [the middle class] will more than double in size, from 2 billion today to 4.9 billion.”

The middle class will soon be a huge percentage of the world’s population, by this time in the future machines have also been predicted to take over about 45% more of our jobs. If there are no jobs for the people, then there will be no money for them either. Every job ranging from an accountant to retail worker will vanish because of machines.

In a conference at Washington D.C, economic think tank The American Enterprise Institute, Bill Gates said that within 20 years, a lot of jobs will go away, replaced by software automation. Specifically, he added, “Software substitution, whether it's for drivers or waiters or nurses … it's progressing. ... Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill set. ... 20 years from now, labor demand for lots of skill sets will be substantially lower…"

All this invasion of machinery in normal jobs, affects every day working families. Jobs that people had had for years, were now taken away from them because of the advancement of technology. Art Liscano, a man from Fresno, CA, had his job as a meter man for 26 years. His company doesn’t need people like him to do that job anymore though. Every day, the utility replaces 1,200 old-fashioned meters with digital versions that can collect information without human help, generate more accurate power bills, even send an alert if the power goes out. His company went from employing 50 full time meter readers five years ago to now only six. Liscano was paid $67,000 a year, along with the other full time families. Imagine the 44 families who no longer get that income because they lost their job to a computer.

Not only old fashion jobs are being replaced with machinery, but also jobs that employ much of the population, retailers. When you’re young and out looking for a job for the first time, there isn’t much you can score with still being in high school and trying to balance school and work, so a part time job working at a shop is what most teens turn to. The future generations might not even have that option though! Retail is among the many jobs that are endangered of being taken over. Self-checkout lanes are already prominent in many stores like Walmart and Home depot. Walmart employs over 1.4 million Americans. Imagine how many people will be cut from that as machinery becomes more popular among society. As our youth is trying to go out and find a job, they won’t be able to because the machines will have already taken over all the simple jobs and any other job not taken will require a much higher commitment and skill set than what they can reach at their age. What will this mean for them? If they can’t find a job to develop their skill sets with, then when will they? Having a job at a young age helps teach teen’s responsibility among many other things. If we don’t give them this option then will we be forcing teens into finding jobs that they can’t handle quite yet?

Yes, it’s almost certain that the generations to come will be enveloped with technology from the start. Most likely, they will start teaching kids about computers from the start of school in order for them to run all the jobs that will be integrated with technology. This might even be worse though because we’d be forcing them into staring at a screen all day and activating a computer to do the simplest commands. This can affect us in the long run with intelligence and mental capacity. If our job becomes pressing a button and making a computer work, then how are we developing as people?

Many other jobs that people don’t even think of are slowly disappearing. Taxi and truck drivers can soon be eliminated by the development of the Google car that had been in development for ages and is already roaming highways. Accountants are also being replaced by computers that can give you faster and more accurate results. Also secretaries are no longer that necessary because a computer can store and organize anything you need and pull it up faster. Also, The New York Times reported that Blackstone Discovery of Palo Alto, CA provided software that helped analyze 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000, thus extinguishing the job of their paralegals.

Based on the extensive research done, it is no lie that a new era of technology is emerging. We as people have to take a stand against it and fight for our right to work. Technology can be helpful in many ways, but there needs to be a balance for how extensive it is. Limiting the amount of things the computer can do may help greatly decrease the rate at which jobs are going endangered. If a machine can only do so much, then the human can do the other part. If the future keeps progressing like this, then there will be no balance in population and labor. This is what we need to make sure technology doesn’t wrap us into it and create a future of mass unemployment.



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