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Software Is Eating the Job Market

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Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#21

Post by mason240 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #10
hittudiv wrote: post #7

Nothing new.. If i can replace a security guard of my office for a cheaper more efficient, less error prone, robot/software instead of a human for half the price, WHY NOT! The exact same philosophy goes into "software is eating the world".

It works until you run out of consumers with cash, at which point it no longer works.

Universal Basic Income is the best post-labor system I've read of.

Everything is still based on the same capitalism we have now, and the ~20% of people who work will still be able to make income (meaning there will still be incentive for enterprise).

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#22

Post by wyager »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #10
hittudiv wrote: post #7

Nothing new.. If i can replace a security guard of my office for a cheaper more efficient, less error prone, robot/software instead of a human for half the price, WHY NOT! The exact same philosophy goes into "software is eating the world".

It works until you run out of consumers with cash, at which point it no longer works.

The net production capacity of humanity (per capita and absolute) is constantly increasing. Why would you ever run out of consumers? Just because fields occasionally become irrelevant doesn't mean that those workers and their descendents will never find work ever again.

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#24

Post by jules »

hittudiv wrote: post #16
niuzeta wrote: post #11

The non-fundamental shift about software is not that it's creating quality jobs at the cost of medium-quality jobs. It's also not that we are creating robots that will replace low-quality human workers. Because we still believe that as low-quality jobs go, higher-quality jobs will somehow appear. (you may not agree with this, even I am personally sceptical, but that's not the point I'm about to argue) But to get to t…

The ultimate winners here would be the software employees in my opinion. The money flows from investors/public to the geeks. Dont know how the economy is going to work out with that though.

Who were the true winners of the industrial revolution? The employees making the machines? Nah. The true winners here will be the ones that always have been and always will be the winners.

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#25

Post by santaclaus »

hittudiv wrote: post #16
niuzeta wrote: post #11

The non-fundamental shift about software is not that it's creating quality jobs at the cost of medium-quality jobs. It's also not that we are creating robots that will replace low-quality human workers. Because we still believe that as low-quality jobs go, higher-quality jobs will somehow appear. (you may not agree with this, even I am personally sceptical, but that's not the point I'm about to argue) But to get to t…

The ultimate winners here would be the software employees in my opinion. The money flows from investors/public to the geeks. Dont know how the economy is going to work out with that though.

The software employers are probably accumulating capital at a higher rate than the software employees.

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#26

Post by pyre »

hittudiv wrote: post #9

But again, there is no shortage of engineers as the article says. The only problem is the quality. Atleast from what i saw in India people just take computer science as a degree because it pays more, not because they love to code.. There is a problem with this kind of people. People who LOVE what they do always over take people who dont.

Well, the distinction between those that love what they do and those that don't isn't the only way to slice things. You don't have to love what you do to want to conduct yourself in a professional manner. Even if you aren't passionate about your work, so long as you take pride in it you won't be producing "crap code."

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#27

Post by hittudiv »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #10
hittudiv wrote: post #7

Nothing new.. If i can replace a security guard of my office for a cheaper more efficient, less error prone, robot/software instead of a human for half the price, WHY NOT! The exact same philosophy goes into "software is eating the world".

It works until you run out of consumers with cash, at which point it no longer works.

Why would i run out of money if i pay half of what i pay to a normal guard.. would i not be saving more money? there is more money to spend on more gadgets :)

thats how the economy works

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#28

Post by j_baker »

amelius wrote: post #20

Still, if you have brains, it is much easier and less risky to make a decent living by becoming a doctor, or a lawyer.

I don't think becoming a doctor or a lawyer are easy or low-risk. You have to go through years of school after which you are faced with a high probability of being unemployed. If you do find a job, you're likely going to work a crushing number of hours.

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#29

Post by int3 »

niuzeta wrote: post #11

The non-fundamental shift about software is not that it's creating quality jobs at the cost of medium-quality jobs. It's also not that we are creating robots that will replace low-quality human workers. Because we still believe that as low-quality jobs go, higher-quality jobs will somehow appear. (you may not agree with this, even I am personally sceptical, but that's not the point I'm about to argue) But to get to t…

Interesting points.

> The problem is that we are eating entry-level jobs, and in turn, creating an artificial scarce supply of "experienced" workers.

On the other hand, it is easier than ever to get cheap, basic education in a variety of things, with the Internet and MOOCs making information widely available. So entry-level jobs may be less necessary these days. On the other hand, it means the people who can afford to spend time acquiring this knowledge without receiving pay will have a bigger advantage than ever. Yet another argument for basic income, I guess.

Re: Software Is Eating the Job Market

#30

Post by jes »

wnevets wrote: post #14
toomuchtodo wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works until you run out of consumers with cash, at which point it no longer works.

sounds like capitalism is broken.

Do you mean people trading with others on a voluntary, win-win basis, or do you mean what today is labeled capitalism but is characterized by coercive force and cronyism?
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