Employment in a Technological World Essay -- Unemployment, Competitive

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that as of September 2011, a whopping 9.1 percent of the American people are unemployed, meaning 14 million possible workers can't find a suitable job (â€Å"National Employment Monthly Update† par. 1). Many of the jobs that were once available to millions have been made obsolete by the creation of new technology. On the other hand, information and engineering technology have established a vast number of skilled and unskilled jobs in the business sector and many research fields. The balance between creation and destruction is applicable to the effects of technology in today’s society and has been studied since the ancient civilizations. With the arrival of new technology every day, there is a constant oscillation in the number of available jobs in every field. This system of creation and destruction of jobs originating from new technology is the most important effect on employment. Technology, most simply, terminates jobs in numero us professional fields and establishes engineering positions in only a few other fields. Defining unemployment and technology will elevate the understanding of technologies effects on employment. Unemployment is difficult to explain, however the Labor Department says that people are unemployed if they are without employment but are searching for possible jobs, although the jobs they are looking for are not available while other employment opportunities may exist(Mabry and Sharplin 2). Therefore, any person that has been laid off because of technology and is still looking for the same job that they previously had is considered unemployed. Mabry, a professor of finance at Clemson University, and Sharplin, a professor of management at Northeast Louisiana University, state... ...tion of jobs related to technology typically keeps itself in balance. However, this reaction does not occur over night, and there is always a brief period of economical instability. At first the jobs that were filled by unskilled laborers are lost or they are filled by new skilled laborers. Occasionally, some technological advancement completely destroys the need for a job which causes extreme unemployment for that labor field. This is followed by a period of staleness where employment doesn’t work its way buck up, but rather balances out at alternating percents depending on the economy. Afterwords, there is always a sky rocket in employment as competition and applicability of the technology becomes more diverse. This in turn proves that although technology is economically unstable right out of the door, it is a great way to increase jobs over a long period of time.