I have been reading plenty of stories recently about how technology and automation are killing jobs. And my usual reaction is to think of William Gibson and his quote "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly
distributed".
All the talk of job losses rarely accounts for collateral job growth.
It's like in aviation. In the 40s, some of the commercial planes had four pilots, three flight engineers and two radio operators. That has shrunk to today's cockpit of 2. But look at the massive explosion in aviation on a global basis and all kinds of cockpit, cabin, ground jobs that has created. And as international flights extend nonstop coverage, it is common to have 2 relief pilots on each flight.
Or the Apple iEconomy. People love to bash Apple for its labor leanness relative to its revenues and market valuation,or just dismiss the jobs as low wage.
Look at what they don't factor:
Jobs at
The long list of global
suppliers that provide components for Apple products
Contract assemblers like
Foxconn and Pegatron. Between Apple (its largest customer), HP, Microsoft and other
electronics vendors, Foxconn has a global staff base of over a million
employees.
Fedex and other logistics
providers that move inbound components and outbound product from assembler
to retail and customer destinations.
Apple
telecom partners related to massive growth in mobile customers and broadband
infrastructure
Its 400+ retail stores which
hire on average of 100 employees each
The App store which has
created plenty of mom and pop jobs from the over $ 10 billion in royalties
Apple has paid out. And more to the music ecosystem via iTunes royalties
The cottage industry which
makes accessories and home and auto equipment to surround Apple products
Local economies as Apple
investors spent some of their wealth from the valuation increase
And on…
Of course, there were job losses:
Apple’s iPhones and iPads
have led to Dell, HP, RIM, Nokia, Microsoft and others losing out
iPods and iTunes led to a
demise of record stores, Sony and other devices
Mobile broadband has impacted landlines and related equipment
Over the decades, Apple jobs at plants in Elk
Grove, Il; Cork,
Ireland, Singapore have moved on
And that is the point. Technology leaves its imprint on far
flung corners of the global economy. Much of it, looked at from a wider time and place lens, is positive.
Comments
Automation and Jobs - Unevenly distributed
I have been reading plenty of stories recently about how technology and automation are killing jobs. And my usual reaction is to think of William Gibson and his quote "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly
distributed".
All the talk of job losses rarely accounts for collateral job growth.
It's like in aviation. In the 40s, some of the commercial planes had four pilots, three flight engineers and two radio operators. That has shrunk to today's cockpit of 2. But look at the massive explosion in aviation on a global basis and all kinds of cockpit, cabin, ground jobs that has created. And as international flights extend nonstop coverage, it is common to have 2 relief pilots on each flight.
Or the Apple iEconomy. People love to bash Apple for its labor leanness relative to its revenues and market valuation,or just dismiss the jobs as low wage.
Look at what they don't factor:
Jobs at
The long list of global
suppliers that provide components for Apple products
Contract assemblers like
Foxconn and Pegatron. Between Apple (its largest customer), HP, Microsoft and other
electronics vendors, Foxconn has a global staff base of over a million
employees.
Fedex and other logistics
providers that move inbound components and outbound product from assembler
to retail and customer destinations.
Apple
telecom partners related to massive growth in mobile customers and broadband
infrastructure
Its 400+ retail stores which
hire on average of 100 employees each
The App store which has
created plenty of mom and pop jobs from the over $ 10 billion in royalties
Apple has paid out. And more to the music ecosystem via iTunes royalties
The cottage industry which
makes accessories and home and auto equipment to surround Apple products
Local economies as Apple
investors spent some of their wealth from the valuation increase
And on…
Of course, there were job losses:
Apple’s iPhones and iPads
have led to Dell, HP, RIM, Nokia, Microsoft and others losing out
iPods and iTunes led to a
demise of record stores, Sony and other devices
Mobile broadband has impacted landlines and related equipment
Over the decades, Apple jobs at plants in Elk
Grove, Il; Cork,
Ireland, Singapore have moved on
And that is the point. Technology leaves its imprint on far
flung corners of the global economy. Much of it, looked at from a wider time and place lens, is positive.
Automation and Jobs - Unevenly distributed
I have been reading plenty of stories recently about how technology and automation are killing jobs. And my usual reaction is to think of William Gibson and his quote "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed".
All the talk of job losses rarely accounts for collateral job growth.
It's like in aviation. In the 40s, some of the commercial planes had four pilots, three flight engineers and two radio operators. That has shrunk to today's cockpit of 2. But look at the massive explosion in aviation on a global basis and all kinds of cockpit, cabin, ground jobs that has created. And as international flights extend nonstop coverage, it is common to have 2 relief pilots on each flight.
Or the Apple iEconomy. People love to bash Apple for its labor leanness relative to its revenues and market valuation,or just dismiss the jobs as low wage.
Look at what they don't factor:
Jobs at
Of course, there were job losses:
And that is the point. Technology leaves its imprint on far flung corners of the global economy. Much of it, looked at from a wider time and place lens, is positive.
July 30, 2013 in Enterprise Software (IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP), Industry Commentary | Permalink