"The so-called sharing economy and the new wave of automation are appearing to rewrite the old rules." Cab drivers protest against Uber in Lisbon, 2016. Flickr/Stròlic Furlàn - Davide Gabino Follow. Some rights reserved.Several profound transformations are taking place in the world of labour at the same time. Aspects of a so-called sharing economy and the new wave of automation are appearing to rewrite old rules. The long-term consequences of this turning point depend on the policies adopted by different governments.
It is a hotly-debated question whether technology will displace more jobs than it creates over the next few decades. In the news we read about self-driving cars that threaten to eliminate a line of professions: truck drivers, bus drivers, cab drivers – even Uber-drivers. We read about automated supermarkets or hotels. According to research by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, 47% of total US employment consists of occupations which could become automatable over the next decade or two.
Optimists refer us to history: automation in the short-term has eliminated jobs, but also diminished the prices of products, increased workers' wages and opened up possibilities for creating new products and new jobs. That was exactly the case when the automation of agriculture enabled the development of modern industry. Likewise, the automation of industry has led to ‘service economies’ in developed countries, and the importance of the service sector is still increasing. Why should we be worried about the automation of the service sector in the light of historical experience?
