"The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. " Warren Bennis
Some years ago, the government, in its wisdom, decided to stimulate the birth rate in Australia to provide a generation to work and pay taxes. These taxes, it was said, would pay for the needs of the ageing baby boomers generation, the largest amount of people to simultaneously age in this country. They used the taxes of my generation, to pay out a "baby bonus" to encourage births.
In addition, the government increased immigration. Those people were also supposed to work and pay taxes.
What they didn't factor in with all of this, was the rise of robots and computers designed to replace workers. At my local Woolworths, many checkout points are now unmanned. At our nearest Kmart, almost all checkouts are self serve only. My bank has a "hole in the wall" Automatic Teller Machine outside. On local farms, huge equipment does the work of ten people, with only one operator. These are the visible robots. We don't see all the ones in workplaces off limits to us.
I read that the use of robots in the workplace is poised to explode.
So, if the generation that was born because of the baby bonus, is not working, because robots are doing the jobs, how are they going to pay taxes to support the aged? Also, who will pay their unemployment benefits and other social necessities, like schools and hospitals?
Just wondering.
Very good interview on the topic of robots taking jobs in the future and the future of Australian jobs:
