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‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

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Re: ‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

#21

Post by aylons »

CodeSheikh wrote: post #11

"To counter these trends, the U.S. must invest in raising the skills of the workers most likely to be affected by the disappearance of routine jobs..." Not sure how's that going to play out for example a welding machine operator can't become a mechanical engineer in a short span of time because those routine jobs are eventually going to be consumed by automated robots, per this study. Why not motivate people to look…

And for a welding operator to become a physical therapist is an even larger leap.

Also, there's also a lot of resistance (and prejudice) in going from blue-collar to pink-collar, partly because care and health services are seem as feminine jobs(except doctors, of course).

Re: ‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

#22

Post by sanderjd »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #14
retbull wrote: post #5

It is interesting that the people who are losing jobs aren't retraining. What exactly is Trump/Republican party going to do to help with that? Bring back Coal when renewable is cheaper?

It's hard to retrain when you live in a town with no higher education facilities, don't have any peers or role models in those careers, and there aren't employers in the area that require those skills.

And you have been living paycheck to paycheck. Education is extremely expensive. So is relocation to places with booming industries.

Re: ‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

#23

Post by toomuchtodo »

jerkstate wrote: post #16
retbull wrote: post #5

It is interesting that the people who are losing jobs aren't retraining. What exactly is Trump/Republican party going to do to help with that? Bring back Coal when renewable is cheaper?

When will renewable be cheaper, though?

Already is:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-15/world-ene...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-03/for-cheap...

Re: ‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

#24

Post by lordCarbonFiber »

zepto wrote: post #10
lordCarbonFiber wrote: post #4

This is, for society at the very least, a "good thing". Who's dream is it to perform a "relatively narrow set of repeated tasks" for 8 hours a day? As mentioned, take these "prime aged workers" teach them skills, and suddenly we have a spike in actually valuable labour instead of a middle class of unfulfilled office drones stuck in a stupor. IMO, the framing should be look at this amazing business opportunity to onbo…

Who is going to 'take' people and teach them skills?

We can start with the ones crying about a shortage of programmers and engineers (read, ones that think the cost of employees is too high). If you can impart a skill for $X at a discounted salary of delta(Y) so long as X ~ Y you're breaking even or making money over the the 1-2 year time frame the average person spends at a job.

Note this is how finance has been hiring line engineers for years.

Re: ‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

#26

Post by metaphorm »

CodeSheikh wrote: post #11

"To counter these trends, the U.S. must invest in raising the skills of the workers most likely to be affected by the disappearance of routine jobs..." Not sure how's that going to play out for example a welding machine operator can't become a mechanical engineer in a short span of time because those routine jobs are eventually going to be consumed by automated robots, per this study. Why not motivate people to look…

elder-care cannot possibly be a solid basis for the economy. they are not in their working years and are not (on the average) contributing positive sums to GDP or tax revenue.

there is a humanitarian case to be made for improved quality of life for elderly people, but I can't imagine that there is a reasonable economic case to be made for it, unless you're arguing that the elder-care industry is just an elaborate substitution for more traditional methods (inheritance and taxation) of redistributing the accumulated wealth of the elderly. aside from that, it strikes me as spiritually corrosive to set up a society in which the young are caring for the old simply so they can pay their rent. this is a kind of gerontocracy.

It seems to me that what is needed is alternative industries that are booming because they create new economic opportunities in a generative fashion. an industry that is booming because the core economic and social dynamics of our society have gotten out-of-whack is not really much of a solid future for people facing job displacement.

Re: ‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

#27

Post by douche »

lordCarbonFiber wrote: post #4

This is, for society at the very least, a "good thing". Who's dream is it to perform a "relatively narrow set of repeated tasks" for 8 hours a day? As mentioned, take these "prime aged workers" teach them skills, and suddenly we have a spike in actually valuable labour instead of a middle class of unfulfilled office drones stuck in a stupor. IMO, the framing should be look at this amazing business opportunity to onbo…

That's fine if you have an average or above IQ. There's a lot of people that don't, and no manner of training is going to rectify that hole they start in, especially with everybody else pulling ahead at the same or greater rate.

Manufacturing used to be a solid living for those who were none-too-bright but capable of semi-skilled drudge work for 8-12 hours a day. More and more, those people are getting left out in the cold. I feel badly for them, but I don't know what the answer is. I was smart enough to go to college and get a degree in something technical, find a job and make good money. Most of my high school classmates would be ecstatic if the old jobs in the paper mills and the shoe shops and the sawmills that their parents and grandparents had were still available.

Re: ‘Routine’ Jobs Are Disappearing

#30

Post by monk_e_boy »

sanderjd wrote: post #22
droopyEyelids wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to retrain when you live in a town with no higher education facilities, don't have any peers or role models in those careers, and there aren't employers in the area that require those skills.

And you have been living paycheck to paycheck. Education is extremely expensive. So is relocation to places with booming industries.

And all your friends, colleagues, contacts, family are where you live at the moment. Moving cities is moving away from all that help.

In the Uk these social ties are too much to break away from, its easier to stay put and look for work. Unemployment creaps up, zero hour contracts drive wages down. Deprivation sets in. Its a slow downward spiral.

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