What jobs will survive?

[taxman]

 

Where we may disagree is your idea that there is not enough money. There is more money in circulation now than at any time in history. What has changed is the more equitable distribution. Huge chunks have been swept up by the banks and the rich, but there have been loads of threads on that. (And Cameron is still borrowing almost as much as Brown.)

 

 

No, I agree with you that on a finite level there is enough money on the planet but it's not being put to use effectively, which leads to people being laid off by both private and public bodies despite their still being jobs that need doing.

[Cyclone]

With mechanisation and advanced technology and the exponential rate of change, I think the World is moving more and more rapidly towards the workless society we see in Utopian Sci Fi films.

 

However far from being Utopian it is bringing endless practical and social problems. Unemployment being the most obvious. How can we solve these?

 

I think humans need to work. What jobs do you think will survive?

 

Designing, programming and maintaining mechanisms and advanced technology... The entire service industry and anything else that requires thought rather than repetitive actions.

[Cyclone]

But we aren't though. We are working longer than ever, retirement age keeps going up and mechanisation and technology haven't done away with the need for people to work and jobs that need doing. Unemployment is being caused by not enough money, not the lack of jobs.

 

Where is the Utopian vision of robots doing menial tasks whilst humans lounge by streams creating art and writing poetry?

 

We don't work longer than ever, we work less than we ever have in recorded history. We have the highest amount of leisure time we've ever had!

Money is something we invented, there can't be a shortage of it except locally. Resource is what money represents, and we have the highest levels we've ever seen again... That could change though, unless we can replace petroleum products.

Mechanisation of the production line took place over the last 80 years and the work shifted to controlling that production line and to service jobs (programming the production line).

[Cyclone]

I agree Taxman. At the moment one man is doing the work of two people

This isn't actually possible is it.

because businesses are trying to cut costs/improve profits, depending on your point of view.

They're the same thing.

That's why I also included room for discussion in my original post. At a time of high unemployment it's ridiculous. No joined up thinking at all. And it's going to get worse unless we do something about it.

 

Where we may disagree is your idea that there is not enough money. There is more money in circulation now than at any time in history. What has changed is the more equitable distribution. Huge chunks have been swept up by the banks and the rich, but there have been loads of threads on that. (And Cameron is still borrowing almost as much as Brown.)

 

Do you agree tho' that manufacturing in this country is at a low ebb and unlikely to come back?

You should check out the actual figures, it's not at an ebb at all in economic terms.

What jobs can be created to make up the loss?

 

Personally I think all jobs should be jobshare

This wouldn't alter productivity (in a positive way), it's just shuffling the numbers around

with wages made up with tax cedits, etc.

Tax credits don't grow on trees.

If we don't have work for all, and unemployment continues to grow, we are going to end up with a very divided society of third world proportions.

Unemployment won't continue to grow long term.

[Rich]

People will always do naughty things that are against the law, so we'll always need Police officers. Similarly, people will always get poorly, so we will always need Doctors and Nurses, and kids will always need to learn stuff, so we'll need teachers.

[Cyclone]

What are you teaching them for if all they need to do is tend the sick and arrest the criminal?

[gnvqsos]

I would think jobs involving creativity will survive with comfort,such as game show hosts,people who advise others how to dress etc. and finally prostitution.

[cressida]

The Cafe Society, all the ones where I shop are full at all times - Marks and Spencer in particular where people will queue for 20 minutes and that's locally, I wouldn't even attempt going to Cafe Revive in Manchester

[vwkittie]

But we aren't though. We are working longer than ever, retirement age keeps going up and mechanisation and technology haven't done away with the need for people to work and jobs that need doing. Unemployment is being caused by not enough money, not the lack of jobs.

 

Where is the Utopian vision of robots doing menial tasks whilst humans lounge by streams creating art and writing poetry?

 

That sounds awful, I'd rather be at work than doing art or poetry!

[taxman]

We don't work longer than ever, we work less than we ever have in recorded history. .

 

Oh I'm sorry, I must have missed the news about the retirement age coming down.

 

And about overtime being abolished.

 

As a percentage of our lifetime we are working less, because in the past people didn't live much after retirement age but in absolute terms we are working much further into old age than ever before. It's madness. People are having to work well into old age whilst youth unemployment has never been higher. Not the mechanised, technologically advanced Utopia Tomorrow's World promised us.

 

And where's my Jetpac?