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Spikosauropod Profile
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Parliamentarian

Registered: 06-2007
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What actually happens to workers when a company deploys automation?


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https://gizmodo.com/the-trickle-down-disaster-of-automation-1838974516
10/13/2019, 9:30 pm Link to this post PM Spikosauropod
 
Extropia DaSilva Profile
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Registered: 12-2017
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Re: What actually happens to workers when a company deploys automation?


>automation increases the likelihood that workers will be driven away from their previous jobs at the companies—whether they’re fired, or moved to less rewarding tasks, or quit<

I can understand why an employee might be fired from her job if automation is brought in. An employee is quite a cost to a business and if you can reduce the number of workers without affecting productivity that increases the bottom line. I think there’s something in this article about those at the executive level benefitting from increased profits as the workforce is hollowed out.

But I wonder why automation would compel workers to quit? It seems to imply that people prefer not to have the effort required to complete tasks reduced so, for example, if we could choose between manually stacking shelves or pressing a button to set a shelf-stacking machine in motion and then stand back sipping our tea while it does the job for us, we would prefer not to press that button.

BTW this kind of reminds me of the situation with cake ready-mix. Shops sold this ready-mix which you could pour into a cake tin, stick in an oven and produce a cake. But few people bought it. After some research, it was determined that people did not buy it because it seemed too effortless. Few people felt like they had really made this cake themselves. So the makers of cake ready-mix hit upon a solution. Henceforth, in order to make a cake with ready-mix you would have to add an egg. Doing this bit of extra work let people feel like they had actually accomplished something.

So, yeah, maybe there is a limit to how much effort can be reduced before we see the exercise as pointless?
10/14/2019, 2:42 am Link to this post PM Extropia DaSilva Blog
 
greendocnowciv Profile
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Registered: 11-2017
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Re: What actually happens to workers when a company deploys automation?


The burden would be much worse in all the Skandi countries than in the US.

Their taxes are already almost maxed up and out for their safety nets.

Ours arent, and our resistance to that varies from State to State.

So the State to State problems already apparent will worsen. Things like UBI will get more talk - but until they start voting on it with real seriousness, we can expect at least a year. I'd bet on several.

So what then? Right now, almost anyone who wants work can get it in the US. The State to State variance means a proviso is in effect - ya can get one, but sometimes ya'll hafta move to another city, or State.

Various countries dealing with this will provide us with interesting examples of what does and doesn't work so well, as "the Job Automation Problem" worsens.


10/15/2019, 5:04 pm Link to this post PM greendocnowciv Blog
 


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