Tech Advances Could Eliminate Majority of Current Jobs

A review of research in robotics and information technology in the spring edition of Issues in Science and Technology indicates that within the next 10 to 20 years, a combination of technologies will be capable of performing the jobs of as many as 80 percent of current workers.

Workforce changes on this scale in agriculture and manufacturing have occurred before, but never at this pace. The critical question raised by Stuart W. Elliott of the National Research Council in “Anticipating a Luddite Revival” is whether social systems can adapt quickly enough to the disruption that technology can cause.

If this means that the economy will need to create more highly skilled jobs that cannot be done by machines, Elliott asks whether we have the ability to train enough people capable of performing at this high level.

Source:  http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2014/4/15-29541_Tech-Advances-Could-Eliminate-Majority-of-Current–_story-wide.html