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> The reality is that as time goes on, the world's needs can and will be met by fewer and fewer people. This is true, but I don't think it accounts for most of

by Camillo 11y ago

> The reality is that as time goes on, the world's needs can and will be met by fewer and fewer people. This is true, but I don't think it accounts for most of the youth unemployment we have seen so far. The jobs did not go to robots in America, they went to workers in China. To answer another common theme: we can complain about CEO pay, tax cuts, stagnant wages, etc., but the reason for the pure and simple lack of jobs is not any of those things, it's just that those jobs went elsewhere. And of course that affects you even if you were not going to work in a factory, because now the guy who was going to do that is trying to get through college and get a white collar job, so he's competing with you. In turn, that means that going to college is now the baseline. So, after getting more people to get into more debt to get more degrees, maybe you find that you still can't get a job.

adamnemecek 11y ago
> This is true, but I don't think it accounts for most of the youth unemployment we have seen so far. The jobs did not go to robots in America, they went to workers in China. I think that that is only temporary though. Once the wages in China rise enough, the jobs will be probably given to robots possibly in America.
- Animats 11y ago
  Robots in China, quite likely. Foxconn is moving to robots as fast as they can and laying off people as they do so.
  - adamnemecek 11y ago
    Well buying robots will probably cost the same in China and America. But for US market, if you manufacture things in the US, you will shorten your supply chain and save on logistics. But yeah, your guess is as good as mine.
- Sammi 11y ago
  Yes. China is already running our of its cheapest new labor recruits. And while people haven't been looking many of the biggest African economies have started to get going. The time when you cannot outsource for cheap labor anymore is approaching fast.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
chillwaves 11y ago
This is not accurate. Even with the jobs being sent to China, they still require fewer workers due to the efficiency of automation. If you look at the global pool of jobs, the trend is the same: fewer workers producing more output.
utefan001 11y ago
I am surprised nobody has mentioned a word that has been a huge help in my career, "certification". Some certifications are stupid, but many HR folks will ignore your resume if it doesn't have the magic letters they are looking for. I highly recommend going the lower cost self study route. Also, some certs are really interesting, even fun, to prepare for.
- jcadam 11y ago
  Meh, I had a PMP for a while. I let it expire because nobody cared. Besides, once you have the certification they milk you by making you earn continuing education credits (which for the most part cost money to obtain).
  - utefan001 11y ago
    Thinking more of technical or trade certs that are not a money making scheme like pmp
rinze 11y ago
> The jobs did not go to robots in America, they went to workers in China. They went to robots in China. There was a very good video documentary on this in (I think) The New York Times not long ago, but I haven't been able to find it. This is close, anyway, and provides context: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/chinese-unmanned-factory-replaces-humans-with-robots http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robot... > The city of Dongguan plans to finish 1,000 to 1,500 “Robot Replace Human” programs by 2016, which (if done on a similar scale to the example above) would vastly increase production and improve quality while putting nearly a million people out of work.
- vijayr 11y ago
  They went to robots in China. One interesting thing to watch in the next few decades would be this - if more and more robots are going to be used, then countries like China will no longer have the advantage of cheap labor. A robot in the US is more or less going to cost the same as a robot in China, so there are not many reasons to send jobs elsewhere.
  - rinze 11y ago
    > A robot in the US is more or less going to cost the same as a robot in China I have no data to back this up, but my intuition tells me that a robot made in the US (with American workers) will still cost more to make than the same robot made in China. As I say, just a hunch (I don't know how much proportion of robotic work is involved in building a robot, though I imagine more and more every day), so let's wait and see.
    - vijayr 11y ago
      In that case, all the American companies have to do is make the robots in China but have the factories that use those robots in the U.S :p

by Camillo 11y ago

adamnemecek 11y ago

> This is true, but I don't think it accounts for most of the youth unemployment we have seen so far. The jobs did not go to robots in America, they went to workers in China. I think that that is only temporary though. Once the wages in China rise enough, the jobs will be probably given to robots possibly in America.

Animats 11y ago
Robots in China, quite likely. Foxconn is moving to robots as fast as they can and laying off people as they do so.
- adamnemecek 11y ago
  Well buying robots will probably cost the same in China and America. But for US market, if you manufacture things in the US, you will shorten your supply chain and save on logistics. But yeah, your guess is as good as mine.
Sammi 11y ago
Yes. China is already running our of its cheapest new labor recruits. And while people haven't been looking many of the biggest African economies have started to get going. The time when you cannot outsource for cheap labor anymore is approaching fast.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

chillwaves 11y ago

This is not accurate. Even with the jobs being sent to China, they still require fewer workers due to the efficiency of automation. If you look at the global pool of jobs, the trend is the same: fewer workers producing more output.

utefan001 11y ago

I am surprised nobody has mentioned a word that has been a huge help in my career, "certification". Some certifications are stupid, but many HR folks will ignore your resume if it doesn't have the magic letters they are looking for. I highly recommend going the lower cost self study route. Also, some certs are really interesting, even fun, to prepare for.

jcadam 11y ago
Meh, I had a PMP for a while. I let it expire because nobody cared. Besides, once you have the certification they milk you by making you earn continuing education credits (which for the most part cost money to obtain).
- utefan001 11y ago
  Thinking more of technical or trade certs that are not a money making scheme like pmp

rinze 11y ago

> The jobs did not go to robots in America, they went to workers in China. They went to robots in China. There was a very good video documentary on this in (I think) The New York Times not long ago, but I haven't been able to find it. This is close, anyway, and provides context: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/chinese-unmanned-factory-replaces-humans-with-robots http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robot... > The city of Dongguan plans to finish 1,000 to 1,500 “Robot Replace Human” programs by 2016, which (if done on a similar scale to the example above) would vastly increase production and improve quality while putting nearly a million people out of work.

vijayr 11y ago
They went to robots in China. One interesting thing to watch in the next few decades would be this - if more and more robots are going to be used, then countries like China will no longer have the advantage of cheap labor. A robot in the US is more or less going to cost the same as a robot in China, so there are not many reasons to send jobs elsewhere.
- rinze 11y ago
  > A robot in the US is more or less going to cost the same as a robot in China I have no data to back this up, but my intuition tells me that a robot made in the US (with American workers) will still cost more to make than the same robot made in China. As I say, just a hunch (I don't know how much proportion of robotic work is involved in building a robot, though I imagine more and more every day), so let's wait and see.
  - vijayr 11y ago
    In that case, all the American companies have to do is make the robots in China but have the factories that use those robots in the U.S :p