It has occurred to me....

#1
g8terh8ter_eric

g8terh8ter_eric

No Disassemble!
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#1
that we have become too "efficient" in the workplace and that's probably contributing more to layoffs than anything. Think about it, what once took 3 people to do a project or job, is taking 1 person and a computer program that has been written in a way for maximum efficiency to make the most profit. We are always finding ways to make work easier, but in doing that are we destroying jobs as a result?? I have always lived by the motto, "Work smarter, not harder", and it has served me well. I never thought though that it's possible that idea could cost people their jobs. Also, when you think about it, it's easier to build a machine and program it what to do, instead of raising a child for 18 years, sending them to trade school or college, and train them for a certain time, to do that job it take 1-3 people and a multitude of computers to do, and if you replace the computers, they are faster than they were before, which isn't always the case with human workers. So, as much as I hate to say this, technology is surpassing the human worker condition, or at least that's how I see it.
 
#2
#2
And another thing that just occurred to me, if we have become too efficient, how are we going to create more jobs, by becoming less efficient again??
 
#3
#3
That's one way to look at it, which has validity. On the other hand, how many employees now work at Google, Yahoo, Facebook, etc? Point is... many jobs have also been created because of computers and other technology.
 
#4
#4
IBlvNTmWrk said:
That's one way to look at it, which has validity. On the other hand, how many employees now work at Google, Yahoo, Facebook, etc? Point is... many jobs have also been created because of computers and other technology.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about the average company that uses the technology, not distributes it.
 
#5
#5
Thirty five years ago I talked with some guys who had just installed a large foundry in Chicago.

It only required one worker and two maintenance men per shift.

The operator was in a control booth that could move back and forth on a beam overhead and the ends of that bean could carry it from one end of the plant to the other. Everything was automated and under the command of the control booth.

That's when I first began to think seriously about what you are talking about.

I know a guy who was basically replaced by a computer
around fifteen years ago when they came up with CAD, (computer assisted drawing.)

Jeremy Rifkin wrote about this idea fifteen years ago.
 
#6
#6
Technological efficiency and foreign outsourcing have eated up a lot of jobs that aren't coming back.

It would be one thing if the productivity gains benefited everyone equally. But alas, they don't--they slant toward those who own the machines.

And so it goes.
 
#7
#7
It's a wash IMO. Someone has to run the computers and just as many jobs have been created by the new technology as have been eliminated.

What is contributing to layoffs is the economy. Plain and simple.
 
#8
#8
g8terh8ter_eric said:
I'm talking about the average company that uses the technology, not distributes it.
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the jobs would just shift. There were no fully staffed IT depts back then either.

Problem is that many of the workers were not able to shift their skill set and could get left behind. There will always be room for them just not in their current position.
 
#9
#9
Greed, and the American want for cheap prices has killed more jobs than technology. Just ask the 100,000+ employed overeseas by American companies. Imports have done the fair share of the damage too.
 
#10
#10
CountVolcula said:
Greed, and the American want for cheap prices has killed more jobs than technology. Just ask the 100,000+ employed overeseas by American companies. Imports have done the fair share of the damage too.
Click to expand...

So has the US having the second highest corporate tax rate in the world.
 
#13
#13
Sabanocchio said:
It's a wash IMO. Someone has to run the computers and just as many jobs have been created by the new technology as have been eliminated.

What is contributing to layoffs is the economy. Plain and simple.
Click to expand...

If you look at programs now and 10 years ago, there is a ton of difference and there is no need for the 10 people to support the program that used to be needed. Everything is written for max efficiency, and because of super fast computers and remote access, there is only need for 1 to 2 people to do the job it used to take the 10 to do. So, it's not a wash bro, that's what sucks. If it was, you would see those people who get laid off going into a different part of the company most of the time, but it doesn't happen like that.
 
#14
#14
history has shown new industries will replace the jobs that have been lost to innovation and in the end we'll all be far better off than before.
 
#15
#15
droski said:
history has shown new industries will replace the jobs that have been lost to innovation and in the end we'll all be far better off than before.
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But what new industry?? Everything has been so automated, they will just use computers to build most everything because of their precision. There maybe Temp jobs that come up, but not too many permanent ones.
 
#16
#16
g8terh8ter_eric said:
If you look at programs now and 10 years ago, there is a ton of difference and there is no need for the 10 people to support the program that used to be needed. Everything is written for max efficiency, and because of super fast computers and remote access, there is only need for 1 to 2 people to do the job it used to take the 10 to do. So, it's not a wash bro, that's what sucks. If it was, you would see those people who get laid off going into a different part of the company most of the time, but it doesn't happen like that.
Click to expand...

but this same thing happened at the advent of the cotton gin and fire and running water etc, etc, etc. Our economy has transitioned to a service economy. It will continue to transition to something else. In fact, businesses now simply go toward the most efficient means possible to generate their goods and services. That means heading toward the cheapest labor, fastest machines, most infallible processes etc. It's not a new paradigm.
 
#17
#17
BigPapaVol said:
but this same thing happened at the advent of the cotton gin and fire and running water etc, etc, etc. Our economy has transitioned to a service economy. It will continue to transition to something else. In fact, businesses now simply go toward the most efficient means possible to generate their goods and services. That means heading toward the cheapest labor, fastest machines, most infallible processes etc. It's not a new paradigm.
Click to expand...

Oh, I understand that completely, which is why I'm saying that there are jobs that just aren't going to come back, yet we have new people trying to break in to the job market every year that just can't find anything.
 
#18
#18
g8terh8ter_eric said:
Oh, I understand that completely, which is why I'm saying that there are jobs that just aren't going to come back, yet we have new people trying to break in to the job market every year that just can't find anything.
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in the end, everyone has to find a niche, regardless of the market. The technology boom created an extreme number of jobs and the next one will too. We aren't moving back to a situation where manufacturing jobs for unionized screw turners is a career. Just isn't happening.
 
#19
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BigPapaVol said:
in the end, everyone has to find a niche, regardless of the market. The technology boom created an extreme number of jobs and the next one will too. We aren't moving back to a situation where manufacturing jobs for unionized screw turners is a career. Just isn't happening.
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And that's the majority of our problems too.
 
#20
#20
g8terh8ter_eric said:
If it was, you would see those people who get laid off going into a different part of the company most of the time, but it doesn't happen like that.
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you're assuming equal job skills. No way that order picker has the skills to keep his whse management system up and running without more training.

and knowledgeable people are re-purposed inside companies all the time.
 
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#22
#22
g8terh8ter_eric said:
If you look at programs now and 10 years ago, there is a ton of difference and there is no need for the 10 people to support the program that used to be needed. Everything is written for max efficiency, and because of super fast computers and remote access, there is only need for 1 to 2 people to do the job it used to take the 10 to do. So, it's not a wash bro, that's what sucks. If it was, you would see those people who get laid off going into a different part of the company most of the time, but it doesn't happen like that.
Click to expand...

You are basically saying that in a healthy economy the jobless rate will remain virtually at the level that it is currently at which is simply not the case.
 
#23
#23
g8terh8ter_eric said:
But what new industry?? Everything has been so automated, they will just use computers to build most everything because of their precision. There maybe Temp jobs that come up, but not too many permanent ones.
Click to expand...

in the past 15 years new jobs have come from:

the internet
iphone apps (of all things)
voip
GPS
HD Tvs

and that is just off of the top of my head.
 
#24
#24
g8terh8ter_eric said:
And that's the majority of our problems too.
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Our economy has transitioned about 50 times in our history, driven by technological advancement. Why do we assume that will stop? Guys that hoed rows simply had to find another way to make a living. Our economy is constantly in flux and positions are continually becoming outdated. That's why complacency on the part of any employee is a bad idea. Companies not attuned to the idea of constant improvement go the way of the typewriter manufacturers, unless they become IBM.
 
#25
#25
droski said:
in the past 15 years new jobs have come from:

the internet
iphone apps (of all things)
voip
GPS
HD Tvs

and that is just off of the top of my head.
Click to expand...
and financial sector has exploded, along with the consulting arena. Marketing is a far larger arena than it has ever been. Transition to a greener economy is going to be a huge boon to the jobs market over the next several decades, but the gov't might eff that up.
 
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