The Inhuman Element: Technology’s Effect on Low-skilled Labor

Before diving into the question of whether it is desirable to limit the progress of technology in order to protect unskilled workers, it is important to have a working understanding of the definition of “technology”. Technology applies, “scientific knowledge for practical purposes which includes the purposeful application of information in the design, production, and utilization of goods and services, and in the organization of human activities” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014). Although we might quibble with the need to tie technology to using “goods and services”, it seems appropriate to do so, given the question at hand and the society in which we live. Since the society in which we live is a capitalist society, the main goal of individuals, corporations, and the government to a large extent is not to protect citizens, but to encourage the creation and exchange of capital. Using a narrow reading of “we” in the question—assuming “we” is the United States—the answer may be simpler than expected. No, we should not hold back technology to protect an unskilled workforce, because that is not the prime goal of our society, and limited technology may fail to protect low-skilled workers (Fan & Yakita, 2011).

For example, while the demand and wages for high-skilled workers have increased in the previous thirty years, especially compared to low-skilled workers, this may not be due to higher or lower efficiency on the part of the workforce, but the result of basic supply and demand (Unel, 2010). That is, low skilled workers cannot find work, earn reasonable wages, or keep a job not because technology replaces them, but because the amount of low-skilled workers is high and demand stagnates, while the amount of high skilled-workers is low and demand increases (Fan & Yakita, 2011). This creates a bidding war for the most skilled workers, raising their wages and desirability, while low-skilled workers must take what they may find and live with stagnant minimum wage policies.

Further, while the common view holds that technology replaces workers in low-skilled jobs, greater efficiency or replacement is not always the case with new technology (Unel, 2010), suggesting that there may be other factors causing the stagnation of demand for low-skill based workers. Some other factors noted for the decline in demand and wages of low-skill workers include government policies allowing for low-skill based immigration, tax laws that do not promote using domestic low-skill based workers, as well as loose immigration laws for high-skill workers from overseas (Unel, 2010).

Despite some objections to the premise that technology is likely to lessen a skill-based worker’s worth or value to an employer, there is great evidence that this is the case. Low-skilled workers on the labor market in Europe and in the US have watched their wages drop and their standing in society deteriorate in the past thirty years (Sanders, 2005). While we may wonder why high-skill based workers are unaffected in the same way by technology as low-skilled ones, there is reason to believe that these workers do not operate on an equal footing (Fan & Yakita, 2011; Sanders, 2005). Because of the easier time companies have developing technology for task-based jobs, low-skilled workers experienced a greater drop in demand than high-skilled workers (Sanders, 2005). Further, the overabundance of low skilled versus high skilled workers also contributes mightily to the divide in wages, job opportunities, and overall employee retention (Sanders, 2005).

If we decide to overlook the objections to the premise that technology replaces low-skilled workers, then we should ask what kind of society we want. Do we want a society that places a premium on creating capital at the expense of other desirable qualities? Or do we want a society that sacrifices potential capital for some (or a great many depending on your political persuasion), in order to ensure that all citizens are protected in their jobs and ways to make a living? What is more important: progress and capital or stability and the ideal of a good life? It is not an easy answer to give without understanding what a person—much less a society—values most.

References

Fan, X., & Yakita, A. (2011). Brain drain and technological relationship between skilled and unskilled labor: Brain gain or talent loss? Journal of Population Economics, 24(4), 1359-1368.

Oxford Dictionaries. (2014). “Technology”. Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/technology?q=technologym

Sanders, M. (2005). Technology and the decline in demand for unskilled labour: A theoretical analysis of the US and European labour markets. Cheltenham, UK: New Horizons in the Economics of Innovation.

Unel, B. (2010). Analyzing skilled and unskilled labor efficiencies in the US. Journal of Macroeconomics, 32(4), 957-967.