Is Technology Destroying Jobs?
The explosive development of technology and its expansion in every sphere of human life have long been an issue of debate, especially when it comes to employment. As economists Brynjolfsson and Cowen (2011) noted, the last decade has witnessed a spectacular growth of productivity rates and output, but the irony is that the level of unemployment is as well skyrocketing because machines keep replacing people in the manufacturing process. These are the facts of life, but is technology destroying jobs?
It is true that replacing human work with automated leads to an increase in unemployment, but the fact of the matter is that it simply raises the demand for high-skilled professionals leaving low-skilled workers behind (Rehman, 2015). That means that technology is not destroying jobs, but transforming and restructuring them. That said, even though machines have become a common element of any mass production, their creative potential is limited, so these are people who are still at the helm, as they monitor the work of computers (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2011).
Those who blame technology for destroying jobs forget that unemployment is a response to the new developments in the world of innovations. Once people get to know the newest things and work with them or produce them, they are back on track, and the level of unemployment decreases. It had been so when smartphones substituted beepers, and it will for sure be so in the future (Edwards, 2015). All that technology does is makes employees more productive by doing part of their work and forces them to study and self-improve so that they keep up with the times.
Development of Agricultural Technologies: Beneficial or Harmful to Mankind?
The development of agricultural technologies was beneficial to mankind because it allowed more people to be supported. It is true because farmers do not have to use animals to plow the fields or hand labor to plant and harvest crops. Besides, technology helps in post-harvest processes. On the other hand, the development of agricultural technologies was harmful to mankind because it required people to work harder in a sense of learning how to deal with the consequences of the GM products and protecting crops from diseases caused by acid rains and changes in the ecology.
Measurement of Time and Change in Working Patterns
With the development of technology and their spread to our everyday lives and work it has become easier to measure working time. What I mean is that the borderline between the working time and time out of work diminishes because we have got an opportunity to take work with us everywhere we go. That is why many companies offer flexible hours or possibility to work from home. That said, the only thing that matters is that the employees cope with their tasks and not the time of the day or the place where they do it.
Effect of Globalization upon Jobs
The influence of globalization on employment is controversial. On one hand, people lose their jobs because of the overall openness of the world and transnationalism as sometimes companies find it more beneficial to attract skilled employees from abroad instead of teaching local workers. It, in turn, leads to inequality in access to employment. On the other hand, globalization has created additional opportunities for jobs as it promotes improvement in working standards increasing productivity and motivates creating new workplaces because of the rise of new industries (Huwart & Loic, 2013).
Effect of Globalization upon Jobs in the Airline Industry
It is true that some technologies destroy jobs, but the others create the ones that have never existed before (Volti, 2014). One of the brightest examples is the airline industry. Before inventing planes there have been no such jobs as pilots, cabin crews or air traffic controllers. Together with that, it gave birth to a profession known as aircraft designer. What is more, with the spread of the air transport, emerged the need for building airports all over the world and hiring those who would guarantee airplanes’ maintenance operations that created additional workplaces requiring new knowledge and skills.
References
Brynjolfsson, E., & Cowen, T. (2011). Can technology be society’s economic engine? Web.
Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2011). Race against the machine: how the digital revolution is accelerating innovation, driving productivity, and irreversibly transforming employment and the economy. Lexington, MA: Digital Frontier Press.
Edwards, J. (2015). This idea that technology destroys jobs is garbage. Web.
Huwart, J. Y., & Loic, C. (2013). Does globalization promote employment? Web.
Rehman, D. (2015). The impact of technology on unemployment. Web.
Volti, R. (2014). Society and technological change. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.