There seems to be two trains of thought regarding commerce and the availability of jobs. One is that old jobs will gradually be faced out to new ones, which come from to time or in waves whenever technology offers a credible change. The other is that, as time progresses, more jobs are going to be replaced by mechanical robots, or employers will constantly downsize their manpower to maximize profits and reduce spending. These processes are happening at once but one gets the impression that occasionally we have been getting too materialistic for our own good and that the planet is becoming more of garbage disposal unit. Items will still be produced on mass and marketing ploys will promote more of same tactics used over the past 40 years, that is inducing customers to more and waste more. Buying more of one product means continued diversity and this is what competitive marketers will add. Diversity in itself is good but we will continue to flood markets with yet more unneeded products for the sake of new market trends and fancies while more people will go jobless.
With the downsizing trend continuing, customer service jobs are going to be fazed out to in certain sectors where the individual is being coaxed to go to websites that will answer their questions. Who is to say that credit card companies which refer people to the bank to answer their questions regarding balance levels and other bank matters will not reduce the number of their customer service clientele? People like myself do not have the time to hunt through the media and look where the mystery link is in order to get that answer. Is a cutting down of customer service staff in the future then justified?
I think there has to be a balance between the number of jobs available and the amount of mouths there is going to be on this planet. If we are too busy narrowing down employment for the sake of innovation and cutting costs that might be harmful in the long run when many more people will have to have some sort of employment to pay for the necessities in life. It looks like the social pyramid is going to see a further depletion of the middle class, a broadening of the poorer class and a widening, yet marginal wealthy class. If 26 million was given as a figure for slavery now, my estimate is that the way we are going, many more will be slaves in 40 odd years.
