Ministry of Propaganda - 13/Mar/2005: "The End of Work"
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The End of Work
Well, probably it's not the end of work as such, but of work as we know it. First automation changed the factory floor, replacing a lot of repetitive tasks (and jobs) with robots. Now the same is happening at the office or in the store and the trend is accelerating. More and more tasks are now automated as companies are trying to save costs. One example the replenishment of consumables: Software can track how much is in stock, automatically order new supplies, send the bill and even pay it. Several jobs are not needed any more (or at least not as many people, those remaining are more likely working on resolving issues instead of processing orders or invoices). Another example the bank, online banking and/or automated teller machines will continue reducing the number of bank clerks processing cheques or paying out money.
Where will this lead?
Some think to a new trend they call off-peopling, where workers are replaced by automation. They believe in Automatic Abundance, a future where Smart machines will do the dull, routine stuff ... We will do the fun, rewarding stuff.
The tricky part is how to get there.
This new world (some call it utopia) will require a lot of well educated and motivated people, after all there won't be many, if any, jobs for less qualified people. Or we could see a hugely divided society: On one side the highly qualified people with jobs they enjoy, on the other side the badly educated unemployed people who don't really have a chance to make something out of their life.
I'm just wondering if our politicians have realised this problem. I don't think they have.
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Entry trivia
- When writing this entry the weather was: cloudy as far as I can tell
- When writing this entry I was listening to: delays - Faded Seaside Glamour
- I'm currently reading/have just finished reading this book/publication: BusinessWeek
- I recently visited this website/-page: Bloglines (yes, it works as normal again)
- The last drink I had was/is: Milk
End of entry trivia
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