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1247 points mangoman | 1 comments | 05 Dec 16 14:57 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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jtcond13 ◴[05 Dec 16 15:46 UTC] No.13106117[source]▶
Your periodic reminder that 'retail salesperson' is the most common job in America (~4.5 million).

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-10-m...

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gech ◴[05 Dec 16 15:51 UTC] No.13106162[source]▶
It's just a starter job, people shouldn't rely on them as a career, it's their fault, bootstraps, etc. etc.
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deelowe ◴[05 Dec 16 16:20 UTC] No.13106467[source]▶
This isn't a solution. It doesn't matter who's "fault" it is. If 4.5M people lose their jobs very quickly, we're going to have a big freaking problem on our hands.

Retail, fast food, stock pickers, truck drivers, etc.. etc.. Sure you could say "don't make menial jobs your career" all you want, but this is still going to be a huge freaking issue sooner than later.

This is from just last week: https://www.ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9...

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1. preordained ◴[05 Dec 16 20:26 UTC] No.13109117{3}[source]▶
Exactly. All-in-the-game economics can get flipped around really quick I think. 1. Let's automate everything right now, we have the technology. 2. Millions of workers displaced. 3. Social upheaval?

I think the mistaken comparison people make, is that when farmers and such lost jobs in the industrial revolution, new opportunities that didn't require total re-education were popping up as fast as old ones disappeared...this is not the case today. The shrinking range of opportunities are to be found in increasingly exclusive, high-skill white collar positions. People are being left behind, and the fuck-you-I-got-my-STEM degree crowd, their attitude isn't making anything better.