A time of change and deep thought Ian's Rural Ramblings

In England in 1764, James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny to spin yarn, with the development of the water frame invented by Ricard Arkwright, the new technology meant that one worker could work up to eight spools at one. As technology went further, one worker could manage up to 120 spools.The industrial revolution had begun with all the positive and negative social changes that history tells us.

I, and, reading around, a good many others it seems, are of a mind that technology is on the brink or perhaps already passed another spinning jenny moment with robotics. I’ve read that it was 1961 on the General Motors production line that the first industrial robotic arm took its place on the line. Now, we are looking at driverless vehicles of almost every kind for land, sea and air and software/hardware combinations that are or will affect almost every person’s career.

Education, when I was at school, focused the student on career choices. Looking at my children going through today’s educational process it still seems to. Yet, even before we have reached the brink of the paradigm shift in employment that I believe we are at I have seen the writing on the wall. A good friend of mine finished his education, went to college and qualified to diagnose and repair domestic electrical equipment. At the beginning of his career he was well paid and had excellent prospects. However, technology moved on and repairs went to swapping out circuit boards to finally disposing and replacing; it was cheaper. My friend was laid off after over 25 years and now works in postal delivery, which too is under threat. I think retirement will come before he is ditched again. He doesn’t feel good about his career.

I believe education must turn out students that can adopt and adapt to new challenges and able to switch careers multiple times. I also think that the hiring policies of companies and recruitment companies need to change too. If one is looking to switch jobs you’re more likely to get another job doing the exact same role as you are now. I’ll go further and pose that unless you’re doing the exact same job your resume will be screened out before a human is ever likely to see it. Sounds crazy doesn’t it?

Recruiters need to be able to look beyond the work experience that might not be a complete fit and look at other qualities that the candidate can bring to the workplace. I think recruiters will be surprised.

Getting back to robotics. I believe the ranks of the employed will shrink drastically. Sure, new and different jobs will be created but how are our great and good leaders going to square a circle with a shrinking workforce and consumer base? I still think a guaranteed basic income for all could be a way forward. In Canada, I’ve read that Ontario is looking at a pilot project and Quebec has been hinting at it. I think that when one studies the math and figures out the costs of multi-benefit programs the mindset of figuring out a guaranteed living income for all could be a no-brainer.