6 ms·

Your periodic reminder that 'retail salesperson' is the most common job in America (~4.5 million). http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-10-m

Your periodic reminder that 'retail salesperson' is the most common job in America (~4.5 million). http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-10-most-common-and-10-least-common-jobs-in-america-today/274526/ http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-10-m...

eggie5 10y ago
I always thought some type of driver was more common...
gech 10y ago
It's just a starter job, people shouldn't rely on them as a career, it's their fault, bootstraps, etc. etc.
- mtrn 10y ago
  > people shouldn't rely on them as a career Nobody thinks of that as a career, but 4.5 million people seem to rely on it for income nonetheless.
- mabbo 10y ago
  For the large percentage of Americans who don't have a degree or maybe not even a high school diploma, there is no such thing as a 'starter job'- there's just 'a job'. Heck, for a growing proportion of the population the degree doesn't even help. We in the tech industry would be wise to remember that we live in an incredibly privileged bubble where careers are real things, where it's easy to find new opportunities.
  - protomyth 10y ago
    Actually, there are starter jobs for folks without degrees or even a high school diploma. People gain experience and there are plenty of companies that don't hire via a HR checklist. Plenty of people work their way up from cashier to management. The big danger is external factors that remove those first rungs of work that allow people to climb up.
  - tjr 10y ago
    During college, I worked for about 6 or 7 months in a local supermarket. Seventeen years later, some of my former coworkers are still there.
- discordianfish 10y ago
  How do people think it matters who's fault it is? You can call them lazy or stupid but they still exist and a lot of them won't get a new job (again, doesn't matter if they can't or just don't want to find one).
- deelowe 10y ago
  This isn't a solution. It doesn't matter who's "fault" it is. If 4.5M people lose their jobs very quickly, we're going to have a big freaking problem on our hands. Retail, fast food, stock pickers, truck drivers, etc.. etc.. Sure you could say "don't make menial jobs your career" all you want, but this is still going to be a huge freaking issue sooner than later. This is from just last week: https://www.ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9a62 https://www.ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9...
  - Skunkleton 10y ago
    We should go bravely into the future, and solve problems as they arise. Maybe this is the catalyst for basic income?
  - preordained 10y ago
    Exactly. All-in-the-game economics can get flipped around really quick I think. 1. Let's automate everything right now, we have the technology. 2. Millions of workers displaced. 3. Social upheaval? I think the mistaken comparison people make, is that when farmers and such lost jobs in the industrial revolution, new opportunities that didn't require total re-education were popping up as fast as old ones disappeared...this is not the case today. The shrinking range of opportunities are to be found in increasingly exclusive, high-skill white collar positions. People are being left behind, and the fuck-you-I-got-my-STEM degree crowd, their attitude isn't making anything better.
- fullshark 10y ago
  "This won't eliminate retail clerks, it will just make their lives easier so they can focus on other tasks"
- harmegido 10y ago
  don't attempt sarcasm on this site. people take things literally.
draw_down 10y ago
Supplemental reminder that tech exists largely to eliminate jobs. Whoops, that was a typo- I meant to write "increase productivity".
- sprafa 10y ago
  those two things are directly related. People need to stop being blind about the fact that yes, there will be mass unemployment soon.
maxsilver 10y ago
"If you are Amazon, you have to acknowledge that you are slowly corroding the retail sector, which employs many (~4.5 million) people in this country." http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/silicon-valley-has-an-empathy-vacuum http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/silicon-valley-ha...
- TulliusCicero 10y ago
  In 1800's - "If you are a farm equipment manufacturer, you have to acknowledge that you are slowly corroding the farming sector, which employs most people in the country." Even if they "acknowledge" it, so what? It's not their job to create extra jobs to replace the ones that they've automated out of existence. It's never been the jobs of the companies creating disruptive technology, like farm equipment or cars or computers, to do this. It wasn't Ford's job to find new jobs for everyone who had a horse-related career; same deal here.
  - LesZedCB 10y ago
    and income inequality has skyrocketed since then.
    - gamegoblin 10y ago
      I agree with you that income inequality is a big problem, and it is a major cause of social discord, but to be fair, quality of life increased significantly across all percentiles since then. e.g. which society is better to live in: (low inequality, less wealth) 10th percentile average wealth: 100 99th percentile average wealth: 1000 (high inequality, more wealth) 10th percentile average wealth: 1000 99th percentile average wealth: 1000000 Of course this is an oversimplification, but you get the idea: income inequality is not the only important factor.
      - theodorton 10y ago
        You have to consider purchasing power, not how much moneys you have in your wallet. If the majority of people get 10x the money they used to, they're not getting 10x the purchasing power, because everyone needs a higher salary. This is also an oversimplification. You can read more about the phenomenon here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease
mmanfrin 10y ago
There are 3.5 million truckers in America. I welcome self-driving trucks, however.
- preordained 10y ago
  You welcome them how soon? If all those workers were displaced tomorrow, is that good?
  - mmanfrin 10y ago
    Because automation is an instantaneous occurrence that we have to talk about if an industry vanishes overnight?
  - chris_7 10y ago
    Living in New York and nearly being run down by "professional" drivers daily... tomorrow sounds good. Taxis too, please. Oooh, will that stop the incessant and generally illegal HONKHONKHONKHOOOOONK too? Yes please!
    - ativzzz 10y ago
      NYC is a very long way away from self driving cars. The truck drivers that will be replaced are those that drive cross country via highways.

eggie5 10y ago

I always thought some type of driver was more common...

gech 10y ago

It's just a starter job, people shouldn't rely on them as a career, it's their fault, bootstraps, etc. etc.

mtrn 10y ago
> people shouldn't rely on them as a career Nobody thinks of that as a career, but 4.5 million people seem to rely on it for income nonetheless.
mabbo 10y ago
For the large percentage of Americans who don't have a degree or maybe not even a high school diploma, there is no such thing as a 'starter job'- there's just 'a job'. Heck, for a growing proportion of the population the degree doesn't even help. We in the tech industry would be wise to remember that we live in an incredibly privileged bubble where careers are real things, where it's easy to find new opportunities.
- protomyth 10y ago
  Actually, there are starter jobs for folks without degrees or even a high school diploma. People gain experience and there are plenty of companies that don't hire via a HR checklist. Plenty of people work their way up from cashier to management. The big danger is external factors that remove those first rungs of work that allow people to climb up.
- tjr 10y ago
  During college, I worked for about 6 or 7 months in a local supermarket. Seventeen years later, some of my former coworkers are still there.
discordianfish 10y ago
How do people think it matters who's fault it is? You can call them lazy or stupid but they still exist and a lot of them won't get a new job (again, doesn't matter if they can't or just don't want to find one).
deelowe 10y ago
This isn't a solution. It doesn't matter who's "fault" it is. If 4.5M people lose their jobs very quickly, we're going to have a big freaking problem on our hands. Retail, fast food, stock pickers, truck drivers, etc.. etc.. Sure you could say "don't make menial jobs your career" all you want, but this is still going to be a huge freaking issue sooner than later. This is from just last week: https://www.ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9a62 https://www.ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9...
- Skunkleton 10y ago
  We should go bravely into the future, and solve problems as they arise. Maybe this is the catalyst for basic income?
- preordained 10y ago
  Exactly. All-in-the-game economics can get flipped around really quick I think. 1. Let's automate everything right now, we have the technology. 2. Millions of workers displaced. 3. Social upheaval? I think the mistaken comparison people make, is that when farmers and such lost jobs in the industrial revolution, new opportunities that didn't require total re-education were popping up as fast as old ones disappeared...this is not the case today. The shrinking range of opportunities are to be found in increasingly exclusive, high-skill white collar positions. People are being left behind, and the fuck-you-I-got-my-STEM degree crowd, their attitude isn't making anything better.
fullshark 10y ago
"This won't eliminate retail clerks, it will just make their lives easier so they can focus on other tasks"
harmegido 10y ago
don't attempt sarcasm on this site. people take things literally.

draw_down 10y ago

Supplemental reminder that tech exists largely to eliminate jobs. Whoops, that was a typo- I meant to write "increase productivity".

sprafa 10y ago
those two things are directly related. People need to stop being blind about the fact that yes, there will be mass unemployment soon.

maxsilver 10y ago

"If you are Amazon, you have to acknowledge that you are slowly corroding the retail sector, which employs many (~4.5 million) people in this country." http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/silicon-valley-has-an-empathy-vacuum http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/silicon-valley-ha...

TulliusCicero 10y ago
In 1800's - "If you are a farm equipment manufacturer, you have to acknowledge that you are slowly corroding the farming sector, which employs most people in the country." Even if they "acknowledge" it, so what? It's not their job to create extra jobs to replace the ones that they've automated out of existence. It's never been the jobs of the companies creating disruptive technology, like farm equipment or cars or computers, to do this. It wasn't Ford's job to find new jobs for everyone who had a horse-related career; same deal here.
- LesZedCB 10y ago
  and income inequality has skyrocketed since then.
  - gamegoblin 10y ago
    I agree with you that income inequality is a big problem, and it is a major cause of social discord, but to be fair, quality of life increased significantly across all percentiles since then. e.g. which society is better to live in: (low inequality, less wealth) 10th percentile average wealth: 100 99th percentile average wealth: 1000 (high inequality, more wealth) 10th percentile average wealth: 1000 99th percentile average wealth: 1000000 Of course this is an oversimplification, but you get the idea: income inequality is not the only important factor.
    - theodorton 10y ago
      You have to consider purchasing power, not how much moneys you have in your wallet. If the majority of people get 10x the money they used to, they're not getting 10x the purchasing power, because everyone needs a higher salary. This is also an oversimplification. You can read more about the phenomenon here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease

mmanfrin 10y ago

There are 3.5 million truckers in America. I welcome self-driving trucks, however.

preordained 10y ago
You welcome them how soon? If all those workers were displaced tomorrow, is that good?
- mmanfrin 10y ago
  Because automation is an instantaneous occurrence that we have to talk about if an industry vanishes overnight?
- chris_7 10y ago
  Living in New York and nearly being run down by "professional" drivers daily... tomorrow sounds good. Taxis too, please. Oooh, will that stop the incessant and generally illegal HONKHONKHONKHOOOOONK too? Yes please!
  - ativzzz 10y ago
    NYC is a very long way away from self driving cars. The truck drivers that will be replaced are those that drive cross country via highways.