Creative Destruction of Jobs

Creative Destruction of Jobs

The United States, along with many other countries is beginning to move to robotics to help with the workload of many companies. Working robots are becoming a more affordable and logical source of production. Pretty soon they will be found in all major factories. The problem with this is that robots are replacing humans on the job. Some people are saying that all robots should be banned from the work force. On the other hand, people are saying to use them as helpers only. However, there is a much better solution to this problem than the two previous stated. The most plausible solution to the robots pilfering human jobs would be to hire humans to supervise, build, and repair these robots.

A robotic worker is a robot that is programmed to do a certain task that the employer needs. One of the more popular robotic workers is the robotic welding system. In the 1990's welding robots installed grew to the average rate of 12 percent per year. In 1999, this number grew to 32 percent (Your First). There are many other uses for the robotic workers. Often they are found in assembly lines because it is much easier and cost efficient to have many robots with basic jobs, as opposed to few robots that can do all of the duties. Companies are beginning to look at robotic workers because of their ability to produce at much higher rates. William Donahue, president of A.P.S says, "We have systems that have one robot servicing up to four production lines, and palletizing four different products simultaneously. Two robotic cells are capable of handling eight production lines that palletize 240 cases of food product per minute."

A human worker would not be able to come close to these statistics. The percent of job loss in America is around 7 percent (Brumson). Often, the question posed by this problem is not if they are cost efficient but if it is ethical and morally right to have them since they are taking so many jobs. It does not have to be a moral issue if individuals can learn to use them to their advantage.

At first most people thought it would be best to get rid of the machines altogether. It is true that this will leave more jobs open for human employees.