Technology and Jobs

This article analyzes the impact of technology on job creation and refutes the common misconception that technology destroys jobs. It also discusses how new technologies have created new job prospects and designations.

Running head: TECHNOLOGY AND JOBS
Technology and Jobs
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1TECHNOLOGY AND JOBS
Paragraph A: Overview of the article “Technology has created more jobs than it has
destroyed, says 140 years of data”
Technology over the years has proved to be a boon for the human civilization and it is
commonly seen that the various recent technologies has greatly improved the quality of the
lives of the humans (Synard and Gazzola 2018). On the one hand, it has much simplified the
work or the job roles of the individuals and on the other hand, it has opened up new windows
of opportunities for the humans (Collet, Hine and du Plessis 2015). The article “Technology
has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data” written by Katie Allen
takes the help of empirical data of the past 140 years and shows that despite the popular
viewpoint of the masses technology has indeed created new jobs over the years. The article
clearly states that the various forms of technologies since the year 1871 has not only opened
up new avenues of employability but at the same time has tried to reduce the workload of the
human beings (Allen 2018). The importance of the article lies in the fact that it tries to refute
the most common misconception of the people regarding the impact of technology on the
employability sector (Allen 2018). In this regard, the use of empirical data of the past 140
years, that is, starting from the year 1871 ensures the fact that the arguments made by Allen
in the article are not merely hypotheses but backed by substantial data as well (Allen 2018).
The weakness of the article can be said to be the fact that the article tries to shed light only on
the positive impact that the emergence of the various forms of technology had on the
employability sector and forgoes the negative aspects.

2TECHNOLOGY AND JOBS
Paragraph B: Analysis of the article “Technology has created more jobs than it has
destroyed, says 140 years of data” in the context of the article “How new technologies
can create huge numbers of meaningful jobs”
The article “How new technologies can create huge numbers of meaningful jobs”
argues that the recent technologies have not only created new job designations but also job
prospects for the individuals. The net result of this is the fact that the unemployment rate of
the majority of the developed as well as the developing nations of the world is lower than
10% (World Economic Forum 2018). Thus, it can be said that this article supports the
opinions of Katie Allen which she articulated in the article “Technology has created more
jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data”. The article clearly mentions the rise of
diverse kinds of technologies like virtual reality, social media and others have opened up new
avenues of employment in the contemporary times, an option which was not available to the
people of the earlier times (World Economic Forum 2018). However, these technologies have
enlarged the social and the financial gulf between the different people of a particular nation
depending on the kind of skill sets that the individuals have but at the same time ensures that
almost everyone gets a job (World Economic Forum 2018). Thus, it can be said that the
views of Katie Allen that technology has opened up new employment prospects over the
years finds ample support from the article of World Economic Forum discussed in this
paragraph.
Paragraph B: Analysis of the article “Technology has created more jobs than it has
destroyed, says 140 years of data” in the context of the article “Technology is not just
taking jobs – it’s also creating new ones”.
The article “Technology is not just taking jobs – it’s also creating new ones” affirms
to the general opinion held by the various individuals that the rise of diverse kinds of

3TECHNOLOGY AND JOBS
technologies has drastically reduced the number of job roles which are available to the human
beings. For example, it is expected that the robots will take over the job roles of the humans
in the near future and this is likely to affect the future job prospects of the humans in a
substantial manner. In this context, mention needs to be made of special types of robots,
which are currently being used in the oil and the gas industry to drill in extreme conditions
wherein it is not possible for the humans to even survive and thereby have saved the human
beings are these kinds of job roles (Collet, Hine and du Plessis 2015). However, at the same
time, the article takes the help of empirical evidence to show that for every job that is being
taken away more than four new jobs are being created by the various technologies. Thus, it
can be said that this article supports the viewpoints of Kate Allen which she articulated in her
article “Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data” that
rather than taking away jobs the various technologies have created new ones.

4TECHNOLOGY AND JOBS
References
Allen, K. 2018. Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of
data. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/17/technology-created-more-jobs-than-
destroyed-140-years-data-census [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].
Collet, C., Hine, D. and du Plessis, K., 2015. Employability skills: perspectives from a
knowledge-intensive industry. Education+ Training, 57(5), pp.532-559.
NewsComAu. 2018. The jobs that didn’t exist 10 years ago. [online] Available at:
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/technology-is-not-just-taking-jobs-its-also-
creating-new-ones/news-story/af0d1e5f0a06dcb3684c00e01ed101bf [Accessed 19 Oct.
2018].
Purswani, G. and Jain, P., 2017. Building employability skills through the use of information
and communication technology. International Journal of Advance Research in Computer
Science and Management Studies, 5(2), pp.10-18.
Synard, J. and Gazzola, N., 2018. Weathering the storms of technology sector job loss: Well-
being barriers, buffers, and beacons. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 104, pp.170-183.
World Economic Forum. 2018. How new technologies can create huge numbers of
meaningful jobs. [online] Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/how-new-
technologies-can-create-huge-numbers-of-meaningful-jobs/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].