Amazon announced Thursday that it plans to hire 100,000 new employees
in the next 18 months. Sounds like good news until you realize Amazon
is putting retailers out of business all over America, and those
retailers account for 16 million jobs -- the largest single source of
jobs for the nation’s non-college graduates (as well as many college
grads).
The economics are simple: The typical online retailer generates $1,267,000 in sales per employee, versus $279,000 at bricks-and-mortar stores. No contest.
The economics are simple: The typical online retailer generates $1,267,000 in sales per employee, versus $279,000 at bricks-and-mortar stores. No contest.
But what happens to all these retail workers, as Amazon and other online sellers take over?
Trade isn’t taking away most American jobs. It’s technology. In the next decade, as driverless cars replace 4.5 million commercial drivers, diagnostic apps replace 1.5 million nurses, robots replace 1.8 million assistants, and learning apps replace millions of teachers, where will the new jobs come from and how much will they pay?
It's one of the biggest unanswered questions in this economy. And unless or until we answer it satisfactorily, authoritarian demagogues like Trump -- spouting simplistic solutions and blaming scapegoats -- will continue to haunt the nation and the world.
What do you think?
Trade isn’t taking away most American jobs. It’s technology. In the next decade, as driverless cars replace 4.5 million commercial drivers, diagnostic apps replace 1.5 million nurses, robots replace 1.8 million assistants, and learning apps replace millions of teachers, where will the new jobs come from and how much will they pay?
It's one of the biggest unanswered questions in this economy. And unless or until we answer it satisfactorily, authoritarian demagogues like Trump -- spouting simplistic solutions and blaming scapegoats -- will continue to haunt the nation and the world.
What do you think?
Robert Reich
Amazon to Add 100,000 Jobs as Bricks-and-Mortar Retail Crumbles Via NYT
