The process of industrialization makes an implied promise of providing relatively secure, well paying jobs. Indeed in the modern world, governments have to go for industrialization. There is no other alternative. At the same time, there is the process of globalization underway. The problem is that the imperatives of globalization and that of industrialization are often at odds with each other. The interactions of these two trends enables corporations to play one country against another and at the same time successfully impose harsh working conditions on their workforce. The level of the individual concerned is immaterial. The high ranking manager is just as terrified of losing his or her job and all the benefits that accrue with it as the factory worker. This is why both types are willing to sacrifice family and personal life and work insane hours for what are relatively meager rewards for the amount of effort and hours put in.
Quite apart from globalization, companies are putting efforts in the development of advanced robotic machinery and computerized systems. There is a clear logic behind these efforts. Robots can work 24/7, do not require time off and do not do things like going on strikes. Similarly, knowledge systems seek to incorporate knowledge and insights that a manager will typically acquire over his career. Here the primary effort is to "lock" in the knowledge and insights so that they can be used after the manager is no more on the scene. Both trends tend to have a similar effect. The number of people required to run the system gets smaller. In the past, new forms of technology came along to absorb the people thus rendered surplus. The same will happen again. The question is one of timing. Unfortunately, the process of people being rendered surplus is happening far faster than the development of promising new technology and processes. So a large number of people, specially older workers both managerial and non-managerial, are finding their skills obsolete and their services no longer required.
Clearly something is amiss. Workers of all stripes, educational background and skill level face an uncertain future in which they can never be sure when they become redundant. It does not matter if they are in a developed country or a developing one. The normal argument given in such cases is that people must upgrade their skill and knowledge levels. This ignores their academic inclinations as well as their willingness and ability to learn the new skills required. Besides the problem is that many of the upcoming technologies are in their infancy. They are still being heavily developed. Most have not yet emerged from scientific laboratories. As a result, the knowledge of these industries is changing rapidly as new discoveries are made and new theories are propounded and proved or disproved.
There is the additional question of exactly what new technologies will provide the basis of future growth? The situation is currently murky. Betting on the wrong horse means wasted time and effort for little or no reward. Blithely saying upgrade skills and knowledge does not give people an idea of how to direct their efforts. We are thus faced with a deadly combination of redundancy, globalization and rapidly changing technology with concomitant rapid advances in knowledge. The pace of change is blistering and ever increasing.
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