Technology and Job Displacement

Although the skills and instincts of people may not be fully replaceable by technology in this era, many of the activities within people’s occupations can be handled more accurately and efficiently by machines. Further, the continuous development of technology will likely benefit people in the long term, because similar to the industrial revolution, which allowed less people to work on cultivating the land and more people to move to urban centers, the incorporation of technology in contemporary jobs will reduce the amount of routine jobs people need to do, and increase the amount of jobs which involve creativity and specific expertise. In the graph displaying the occupational sectors which will likely experience the highest displacement rates, this pattern is clear because lines of work such as office support, production work, and food service are the lines of work which can be most easily replaced by technology. This change could hurt people at first due to the amount of people needing to find new jobs and learn new skills, however, this will help society in the long term because there will be a higher demand for higher paying, education based jobs. Also education could become more accessible or affordable to compensate for this need, which could lead to greater amounts of knowledgeable and forward thinking members of society as a whole. 

Something interesting was the fact that jobs relating to transportation services, which usually do not require university degrees, will not experience as much displacement relative to the other occupations represented. This seemed off to me, because when I envision the future, and how it may physically appear, my mind automatically dreams up many innovative means of transportation which rely on modern technology. Underground train systems in many metropolitan cities hire both drivers and ticketing service members, however, both of those jobs, which are in increasing demand due to the growth of cities, and are relatively simple and repetitive, can be replaced by technology. Something unsurprising was the fact that artists and educators will generally not be replaced by technology, however, I believe that although people in these lines of work will not be replaced, technology will become a crucial field tool in both of these fields. For example, graphic design and animation tools are allowing artists to experiment with ever improving software, pushing  the boundaries of their skills. Also, technology is being applied in the field of education through online study platforms and for research purposes. 

Overall, technology will certainly change the future in terms of work, however, there seems to be a misconception that the displacement of jobs will have a negative impact, when that may not actually the case in the long term. If less people are needed to handle simple jobs due to technology, then more jobs will open up which involve using technology, and being creative rather than being told what to do. In the end, technology is a tool for people, and the stronger that tool becomes, the stronger people will become as a result. 

Reference: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-in-america-people-and-places-today-and-tomorrow

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