The Disappearing White-Collar Job

[question everything]

For generations of Americans, a corporate job was a path to stable prosperity. No more.

The jobs lost in a monthslong cascade of white-collar layoffs triggered by overhiring and rising interest rates might never return, corporate executives and economists say. Companies are rethinking the value of many white-collar roles, in what some experts anticipate will be a permanent shift in labor demand that will disrupt the work life of millions of Americans whose jobs will be lost, diminished or revamped partly through the use of artificial intelligence.

Long after robots began taking manufacturing jobs, artificial intelligence is now coming for the higher-ups—accountants, software programmers, human-resources specialists and lawyers—and converging with unyielding pressure on companies to operate more efficiently.

(snip)

For the year ended in March, the number of unemployed white-collar workers rose by roughly 150,000, according to an analysis from Employ America, a nonpartisan research group. That included workers in professional services, management, computer occupations, engineering, and scientists.

More..

https://archive.is/lljNT

[MutantAndProud]

1. What happens when

The AI divisions of the companies that run the best suites are nationalized for security purposes after they replace the educated white collar workforce that created them?

[ret5hd]

2. It will be interesting to see...

the next iteration of “Occupy Wall Street”…what with all the starched and pressed shirts out there leading the charge.

[Warpy]

3. A lot of them were already computerized and exported to any country

with a large English speaking population and lower wages. It's why so many 4 year college grads are complaining that the hard work and debt load are failing to pay off. Now it's off to grad school and even that is no guarantee of success.

I've taken to telling smart kids to get a 2 year degree that will pay the bills, live at home until they land a job that does that. They can think about a 4 year degree down the line when this country stops being so stupid and short sighted and invests in people instead of billionaires.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. I so wish I'd had that advice instead of being pushed into nonsensical education

[Warpy]

6. I quit engineering school, eventually took my own advice

and it worked out fine for me. Things I learned in e-school were things I've used a lot over the years, so I have never considered that 3 years a waste of any kind. Having the knowledge has been great although I know I'd have hated having the job.

If life had gone the way I expected it to in my teens, I'd have been bored stiff.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Flattened organization has been a 30 year trend, so no surprise

but if you can code and do data analytics, a high school diploma can get you $150k.