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Is there really tech-related job loss? Or does tech actually create more jobs? I am from Canada, so that is the data I am most familiar with. The employment ra

Is there really tech-related job loss? Or does tech actually create more jobs? I am from Canada, so that is the data I am most familiar with. The employment rate has almost never been higher (2008 was the highest), the unemployment rate has almost never been lower (2008 was the lowest). The US housing crash did take some toll on the Canadian economy as did the more recent fall in oil prices, but we're still looking far better than the historic norms when it comes to job numbers. At the same time, I remember in the mid-1980s there was widespread media panic about how the robots starting to become common in manufacturing were going to eliminate all the jobs. A rise in employment, and decline in unemployment is exactly the opposite of what I would have expected in the following 30 years based on the panic at the time. The claims being made today are exactly the same as they were 30 years ago.

DanFeldman 10y ago
There will be a huge loss of jobs in the next 10 years, not job creation. At some point, self driving cars will exist with no driver, and around the same time, self driving trucks. Truck driver is still the most common job in many states [0]. When was the last time we saw the most common job on the brink of being wiped out? Even if tech continues to grow and add jobs, will it surpass the loss from the trucking and transportation industry? [0]: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/02/05/382664837/map-the-most-common-job-in-every-state http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/02/05/382664837/map-t... Edit: [1] questions the claim that trucking in the most common job by state. There's still a lot of drivers out there though! [1]: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-truck-driver-isnt-the-most-common-job-in-your-state-2015-02-12 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-truck-driver-isnt-the-mo...
- randomdata 10y ago
  > When was the last time we saw the most common job on the brink of being wiped out? A couple of hundred years ago. And not just the most common job, but the job that was employing 90% of the labour force at the time. For comparison, transport truck driver accounts for just 1.5% of the labour force in Canada. > Even if tech continues to grow and add jobs, will it surpass the loss from the trucking and transportation industry? Yes. I struggle to believe we've reached the pinnacle of human achievement. Do you think the last time we went through this that people were sitting around thinking that the internet will provide jobs in the future? I'll be amazed if they even grasped that an internet could be possible. The jobs that will need to be done are things we cannot even dream of right now. If we could dream of them, we'd already be doing it.
- erikpukinskis 10y ago
  > There will be a huge loss of jobs in the next 10 years Not if I have anything to do it! Luckily not everyone is a defeatist. First principles analysis shows there is plenty of valuable work to be done, and not nearly enough people to do it all. Unemployment is a phenomenon fabricated by the ruling class for social control. As long as people are afraid of becoming unemployed, they'll stay in an exploitive job. It's not as if there is some kind of fundamental limit on productivity. We've been trying to finish the work for a thousand years, and yet each year we keep finding more!
- erikpukinskis 10y ago
  > There will be a huge loss of jobs in the next 10 years Not if I have anything to do it! Luckily not everyone is a defeatist. First principles analysis shows there is plenty of work to be done, and not nearly enough people to do it all. We could probably erase global unemployment by adding mental health care jobs alone.

DanFeldman 10y ago

There will be a huge loss of jobs in the next 10 years, not job creation. At some point, self driving cars will exist with no driver, and around the same time, self driving trucks. Truck driver is still the most common job in many states [0]. When was the last time we saw the most common job on the brink of being wiped out? Even if tech continues to grow and add jobs, will it surpass the loss from the trucking and transportation industry? [0]: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/02/05/382664837/map-the-most-common-job-in-every-state http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/02/05/382664837/map-t... Edit: [1] questions the claim that trucking in the most common job by state. There's still a lot of drivers out there though! [1]: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-truck-driver-isnt-the-most-common-job-in-your-state-2015-02-12 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-truck-driver-isnt-the-mo...

randomdata 10y ago
> When was the last time we saw the most common job on the brink of being wiped out? A couple of hundred years ago. And not just the most common job, but the job that was employing 90% of the labour force at the time. For comparison, transport truck driver accounts for just 1.5% of the labour force in Canada. > Even if tech continues to grow and add jobs, will it surpass the loss from the trucking and transportation industry? Yes. I struggle to believe we've reached the pinnacle of human achievement. Do you think the last time we went through this that people were sitting around thinking that the internet will provide jobs in the future? I'll be amazed if they even grasped that an internet could be possible. The jobs that will need to be done are things we cannot even dream of right now. If we could dream of them, we'd already be doing it.
erikpukinskis 10y ago
> There will be a huge loss of jobs in the next 10 years Not if I have anything to do it! Luckily not everyone is a defeatist. First principles analysis shows there is plenty of valuable work to be done, and not nearly enough people to do it all. Unemployment is a phenomenon fabricated by the ruling class for social control. As long as people are afraid of becoming unemployed, they'll stay in an exploitive job. It's not as if there is some kind of fundamental limit on productivity. We've been trying to finish the work for a thousand years, and yet each year we keep finding more!
erikpukinskis 10y ago
> There will be a huge loss of jobs in the next 10 years Not if I have anything to do it! Luckily not everyone is a defeatist. First principles analysis shows there is plenty of work to be done, and not nearly enough people to do it all. We could probably erase global unemployment by adding mental health care jobs alone.