Technology vs Workers
During the pandemic a shift in mindset has occurred towards the ideology of work. The “Great Resignation”, when 33 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021, has caused many to believe that people’s view on work has significantly been impacted by either government stimulus checks, poor quality work, or overall disinterest in what they are doing. With such a high supply of jobs and low supply of workers, some may say that workers have gained a new position of power in the workplace because of the trends that followed the “Great Resignation” during the pandemic. I argue that big corporations will regain control over their employees again because of their economic positions and technological advances that will slowly push out the needs for as many workers. This will ultimately create a low supply of blue-collar jobs in the future and a high supply of workers who will need them in order to survive.
Workers have gained a position of power following the “Great Resignation” because it created a high supply of jobs and low supply of workers. This gives them the opportunity to not only have some say in their work conditions but also what they decide to do. Many have decided to switch their career path completely and go back to school. Dr. Laura Hamill, chief science advisor at Limeade, an immersive employee well-being company with a goal to create healthy employee experiences, said “…. There was a societal breakdown when it came to the ecosystem of work, home and well-being. People reached their limits.” People are starting to become exhausted with work conditions and therefore is the reason why the Great Resignation is happening. Although people have this position of power currently, big corporations are going to start gaining back control because of new technological advances that are going to push out blue collar workers.
Although technology could help support workers who may not be as educationally supported by the use of Augmented and Virtual reality for training, the slow decline of needs for blue collar workers is evident. Blue collar workers are those who work manual labor, typically in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and maintenance. Machines are more efficient and have started to become more reliable rather than going through the process of hiring. In an article from the Urban Institute, labor economist Pamela Loprest talks about the effects that technology may have on the need for workers. It is said “… technological change has reduced the need for routine mechanized work and increased both the demand and pay for high-skilled technical and analytic work.” (Urban Institute) Routine mechanized jobs is what blue collar workers perform and therefore are seen to already have less demand. This has already become more prominent during the pandemic because the intent for everything to be contactless has caused people to interact with others less and less. Self check in at doctors appointments and Apple Pay instead of cash has started to eliminate the need for corporations to hire as many employees even with the “Great Resignation”. A specific example of this is places such as Target and your local grocery store have an increased number of self checkouts which is starting to lower the amount of employees hired because technology can do it for us. People are only temporarily going to have this “power” caused by the pandemic because the skills and education needed for the new technological advancements will cause those with the require skills to have high paying jobs while jobs that require little to no education are going to pay less and less with further technology usage increasing.
There are some positive elements to technological advancements in the workforce. Sure technology could keep advancing and the world may not need humans in the workplace as much, but advancements could also be used as a way to train future employees in a more efficient manner. Companies have started to shrink their investments in training their employees thus giving them minimal opportunities to acquire the skills necessary for new kinds of work. This plus rising tuition costs are slowly starting to create a gap in the workforce because skilled workers with a degree are in high demand, especially in the technological field, but for those who can’t afford the exorbitant costs of education are at a disadvantage, In an article by Brookings Jack Karsten, former Senior Research Analyst for the Center of Technology Innovation, discusses how technology might help this gap for disadvantaged workers. After he acknowledged that two recurring issues are rising tuition costs and lack of funding towards training, he presented a way that technology can help this instead of hurt. The idea was “Augmented reality and virtual reality can bring computers to manual jobs far removed from an office, giving companies and workers more options for how and where retraining takes place.” (Brookings) Augmented reality is when a screen overlays digital images onto your view of the real world usually on a phone and virtual reality uses a headset to create an immersive 3D experience. These two technological advancements can help increase the supply of qualified workers because rather than requiring employees to go to a classroom or online course, AR and VR give on site training that is more efficient and less time consuming. This would make technology more beneficial for workers in the future instead of harmful because it provides more opportunities for those who can’t afford rising tuition costs or are in need of proper training.
The pandemic has allowed Americans to have a new mentality when it comes to their choices on whether or not they want to work. This has put big corporations and small businesses at a disadvantage because we can see the need for hire almost anywhere you go. Although there is a high supply for jobs and a low supply of workers which has put people in a position of power, in the long run big corporations are going to gain control back. This will be seen through new technological advancements because the more technology has developed the less they need people in certain types of jobs. Blue collar workers with minimal education are going to be pushed out through technological advancement because machinery will be faster, more efficient, and reliable. Those with education and the skills require to build and run the machinery will still be in a position of power because they are critical for the advancement to grow and succeed,
