The world has changed in the last decade due to our increasing dependence on tech from the likes of Google, iPhones and Amazon. But one thing the tech boom has failed to provide is enough jobs.
Facebook and Google together employed less than 75,000 people last year, about one-third less than Microsoft despite their combined stock market value being twice as high, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hiring in the computer and chip sectors tanked once companies began outsourcing that work, and tech giants tend to need relatively fewer workers compared to other industries.
After steadily rising in the 1990s, employment at US computer and electronics firms fell from 1.8 million in 2001 to 1 million in August 2016, according to the Labor Department. Looking forward, it’s not far-fetched to expect robots to start eliminating more jobs—California-based Knightscope makes robots that serve as night watchmen at shopping malls and corporate campuses, and they only cost $7 an hour. [WSJ]
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