IS 215 has made me think a lot about how technology eliminates jobs and literally creates hundreds of new ones at the same time. I was in Meijer the other day and I realized how many less people work in a grocery store thanks to the development of the robot scanners and checkout systems. Does anyone remember the days where the front of Meijer was 30 aisles of just checkouts? Does anyone remember having a man or woman scan and check your items while another man or woman was bagging them for you at the end of the checkout line? Technology has reduced labor forces of industries that once required hundreds of workers. Technology has allowed us to move from one method to an entirely different and more efficient one.
In terms of jobs being eliminated and created I have thought about it in terms of a change in industry options as well. Think about how many less check out people and baggers Meijer now has but how many more computer service people and machine experts they now employ. One door closed so that a new one could open. Meijer has to keep their computerized scanners in top shape so that they can service people 24hrs a day and in order for them to do that, they must hire people to observe and maintain the equipment.
Think about what may happen if RFID tags become a technology of the very very near future. People will be hired to build the wiring and chips that make the tags what they are, then people will be hired to build the scanners that read the tags, then people will be hired to sell the new technology, and then other people will be hired to repair the scanners and tags if necessary. The possibilities are endless but my point is that technological updates literally close and open job markets simultaneously. This thought literally came to me as I was operating a machine to check out my groceries as opposed to a person doing it for me.
A thought like this has made me wonder just how dominant an industry like Information Technology could become...
I, too, wrote a blog regarding these tags. I am sorry to see all the jobs lost at Meijers. I used to work there. I do not use any of the auto checkouts, I want a real live person to help me.
ReplyDeleteThere is always going to be new jobs created from new technology and jobs lost. The only down side to having these new jobs created is the education that would go along with the new technology, so you would have to essentially spend more money to make money due to the lack of knowledge of the new products.
ReplyDeleteThis really highlights how our future craves people with technological competence. It seems like a large majority of service jobs (cashiers, baggers, etc), will be replaced by technology and that it will be extremely important for people to have enough knowledge of these systems in order to be hired as the people building, fixing, and programing them. I think that the role of technology will only continue to increase in the classroom and I wouldn't be surprised to see more IT focused classes in the K-12 curriculum.
ReplyDeleteSee, I think with this specific situation it differs. I understand alot of the bigger companies are switching to self scan and you bag your own or go to a cashier and they bag it for you right there with a spinning bag rack. I think alot of people, probably more the older generation would like to have the personal connection with the employees. They want to have it done by people, not themselves or a machine. Some people still like being able to talk to cashiers and have that relationship with them rather than all in one motion like a robot. I don't however think this is true with just the older generation but also younger people as well, just not as much now days since we are becoming more used to the self scan etc. I am a cashier at Country Market in Dexter and there are locations in Adrian, Jackson, Brooklyn and Saline and none of them have gone to self scan or anything of that nature. We all have the cashiers and baggers and provide a friendly atmosphere for the customers which I think alot of people care more about when it comes down to it rather than operating like a machine.
ReplyDeleteI realy like the self scranners. I think that is makes things faster and easier. A casher is on job that may not be around in the future. This really wont be that big of a deal the store can always use help in other areas. The money that the store saves from not have cashiers can go to other emploies. I like the self check out and hope that it grows to other businesses.
ReplyDeleteI think that the self scanners at Meijer are a great improvement. Yeah, they eliminated some lower part time jobs, but as a shopper there, I would rather work with a scanner by myslef than have to deal with a worker who is having a bad day and isn't very friendly. I really hope that they continue to expnad the self check out lanes.
ReplyDeleteService repair jobs are one of the most stable. The high tech repair industry is very well paying and is one of the jobs that can't be shipped over seas. You can't pack big hospital equipmant or a self scan register and ship it off.
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