People are being replaced by robots and other machines. On the one hand, that is one way companies compete with cheap labor from other countries. No labor at all is less expensive than cheap labor. On the other hand, automation eliminates many jobs. Are y

Automation and Jobs for People

Since the introduction of the first machines for weaving cloth and other automated processes during the Industrial Revolution , manufacturers have relied more on machines and less on humans for labor . Automation increased during the latter half of the 20th century , as computers were combined with machines to produce highly sophisticated robotic systems and other automated processes . Improvements in communication and information technology moved automation from strictly manufacturing processes to processes that involved more intellectual work . The result has been increased productivity and lower human resource costs

for manufacturers and the elimination of some categories of jobs for workers . At the same time , the shift to automation has created entirely new categories of jobs for qualified workers and has allowed businesses to increase profits for their shareholders . Ultimately , society and businesses have to decide if the benefits of automation outweigh the social costs of meeting the needs of displaced workers . Although automation changes the need for labor , automation alone does not appear to contribute to unemployment

It is easy to see why workers in some industries would feel threatened by increased automation in their area . Workers at an automobile assembly plant , for example , would be understandably upset if they discovered that they had been replaced by robots working in a fully-automated production facility . Automation has not been limited to manufacturing but may be found in virtually all segments of the economy , including retail , financial services , medical services , and other services that at one time required the work of a human . An article written in 1993 observed that thanks to automation and the increased use of outsourced labor "steady jobs for good pay are becoming poignant memories or just dreams for more and more people (Barnet , 1993

Barnet and others who are against automation have overlooked the fact that while automation has eliminate the need for some types of human work , it has created new categories of jobs . Mark (1987 ) pointed out that when computers were introduced into business offices in the mid-1950s , there were predictions that businesses would no longer need clerical workers to maintain records , type letters , or do other routine office jobs . In reality , the introduction of computers led to an increase in clerical workers . These increases in the need for clerical workers occurred because of new demand for data entry and other computer-related jobs and because automation allowed businesses to produce reports and to perform other functions that would have been impractical without computers (Mark , 1987

In the United States , the reduction or elimination of routine , low-skill jobs - the types of jobs that are replaced by automation or by outsourcing the work to offshore companies - has meant that more people are employed in better paying positions Between 1980 and 2004 , the number of Americans employed in management positions increased by 80 (Ezra , 2004 ,

. 85 . Between 1996 and 2004 , per capita income in the United States increased by 20 (Ezra , 2004 . Rather than reducing employment opportunities , automation has saved jobs in some industries...