How Tech Companies Could Keep the Workforce Alive
Do innovators have a responsibility to help workers whose livelihoods are threatened by machines?
By the time IBM introduced its personal computer in 1981, the company’s “Job Training Program” was 13 years old. Secretaries and other administrative professionals across the country—workers whose jobs were affected by IBM’s new computer and software—could go to one of the company’s 74 job centers and gain skills in areas including computer programming, data entry, and word processing.
Jobs in industries such as food services, transportation, and retail trade are at high risk of being automated, forcing workers to gain new skills to compete for well-paying jobs. From Google’s to Apple’s communication technology to witness growing gaps between the skills that workers have and the ones that employers need, workers will need training.
