Andrew Mcafee

In this article, Jim Tankersley interviews Larry Summers, a Democratic economist and former Treasury Secretary, about the implications that technological advances, such as the use of robots in factories, have on income inequality and on middle-class jobs and wages. Because these new machines and robots can do the same work of low-skilled workers for lower costs, there has been a vast decrease in the amounts of jobs available for the middle-class. While some believe that the solution to this would be to obtain more education and learn skills that cannot be replaced by machines, Summers believes that this will not solve the problem because the income inequality caused by technology is due to the increase of wealth distribution to the top one

“Making it in America”, by Adam Davidson, illustrates how technology and machinery are interchanging humans in the workforce. Machines are taking over factories and leaving more employees out of work. Davidson also points out that the wage-gap is considerably increasing between un-educated and educated laborers. Corporations and companies all over the world, including the Americans, Europeans, and Chinese, are purchasing machines over hiring workers to save money.

‘Is your job next?’ headline blared, followed by the disturbing preview of the article inside: “A new round of globalization is sending upscale jobs offshore. They include chip design engineering, basic research— even financial analysis. Can America lose these jobs and still prosper (R. Hira, 2008, p-1)?” The reaction of this news was swift and divided. Definitely large corporations that will be outsourcing will make huge profits in the long run but “what about the American citizens?”

According to Richard W. Judy and Carol D’Amico in the article “Work and Workers in the Twenty-First Century”, Americans are figuring out how to deal with the dramatic changes in the workforce. The journey to become a productive worker will not be easy to achieve but the hard work Americans put in will pay off in the long run. There are four forces that explain the dangers and satisfactions that are ahead for American workers. The four forces to be considered are as follows: technological changes, globalization, the aging population, and ethnic diversification. All four of these factors play a role in coping with the changing workforce.

The future of work is a topic that many people don’t take the time to actually analyze and question as to what it will be like when the future actually comes. The films Wage Crisis by Michael Maher; Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream: Why Poverty? by Alex Gibney; and The Secret of Oz by Ben Still, are some of the films that highlight the future or work and the how the wages and economy are really affecting those who are looking for work and trying to work towards a common goal – achieving the American Dream. Throughout this review, these movies will be compared to the content that have been covered in the Future of Work class and discussed further in terms of how they can affect the economy for virtually the worst.

Companies produce new technologies that help americas new and upcoming workforce. New tools are made to help the medical field be more precise and effective in their treatments. New systems of communication and travel have become quickly more available. People have even said that in about four years humankind might be able to live on mars. In our age a new phone comes out every few months, allowing better forms of communication. As we look to the future we see that the tech will really be “shocking.”

Specifically, mechanical workers are taking over the jobs that the middle class traditionally performed(Adam Davidson). The job brake down in America traditionally went upper, middle and lower class jobs. Highly educated and talented individuals normally perform the upper class jobs. Since they perform skilled jobs that most cannot do, they are paid the most. Next come the middle class jobs,

1. What changes are occurring in our workforce today and are likely to continue into the future?

A job that will be obsolete in 20 years will be restaurant drive thru operators. Four years since the Great Recession officially ended, the American middle class has had a harder time getting jobs in America because of technology; people can order food online and with their smartphone anytime anywhere to get food. While the worker is making the order, he or she can save time by pressing a button on the screen to get the drinks filled while they are making the order. The way this has been designed is to get a company to progress and get it going and to help the company out in a good way.It helps the sellers speed up theirthere process and helpsto help them do more tasks in theirthere company.For example, the drive thru operators have been

Some people consider those jobs separate but most just look at them as the same job. Between them the job outlook is supposed to go up by 22% between 2012 and 2022.Compared to other jobs thats a high outlook for a future career. Most jobs don’t have such a high outlook. In another twenty years this job will be even more involved with technology because it is technology based. You will have to stay up to date with all the new tech that comes out and understand how to use it in this field.

According to Hernaes (2017), technology in the United States has been growing. With the growth of technology, more “blue-collar” jobs are being replaced. Inequality is increasing because the jobs being replaced are lower wage jobs. The reason for inequality is that those in the lower class, and even the middle class are losing their jobs. Those in the upper class mostly retain their jobs because their labor requires more skilled labor. The income gap increases because the wealthy can allocate their spendings on other resources, or cheaper resources that will replace labor. The loss of these jobs would cause the poor to become poorer, and the rich become richer. The supply of labor demanded would decrease, resulting in fewer workers. The growth of technology began as a “slow train since the 1980s.” Technology has been growing “exponential[ly]” ever since (Jones, 1998).

The authors have done a good job supporting their claims by providing statistics and facts that prove them to be right. When discussing the impact of technology on the economy, they discussed GPT (General Purpose Technology). GPT is a term economist’s use for a small group of technological innovations that are so powerful that they interrupt and accelerate the normal march of economic progress. An example of a GPT is the computer. Something as profound and important as the computer has only gotten better and more valuable to people with time. Over time, the use of computers has enhanced tremendously. It is now used for anything and everything. Not just inside the home, but in businesses, in healthcare, in classrooms…the list goes on and on. Because of the impact the computer has had on society, it has driven people to further invest and make the computer even more powerful. That would be why it is considered a GPT. Brynjolfsson and McAfee continue on to discuss the impact of technology on today’s current economy, productivity and employment. It is mentioned that digital

This leads into Carr’s biggest assertion that much like various other infrastructural technologies before it information technology will eventually become another commodity. Carr identified the price drop of IT has already

He laments the loss of thousands of jobs and foretells of an economic collapse as jobs grow stagnant. Berman predicted, correctly, that low skilled jobs would never return in demand, and that the economic security of all low skilled workers was at risk. And that high skilled jobs would become the new standard. We are rapidly approaching a time in which an average worker is an unemployed worker. A vast array of skillsets and creativity will become the new base requirements for even the most minimalistic of

One key misperception among industry watchers is that technology advancements results largely in the death of career opportunities. This is simply not the case. Instead of killing jobs, technological advances are changing the nature of the roles available. Computer programmers and network administrators are just two examples of roles in the IT sector that are seeing significant growth across the globe.