Assess the argument that a new era of automation is leading to higher Term Paper

Assess the argument that a new era of automation is leading to higher inequality and threatening the social order - Term Paper Example Nevertheless, the fact that technology has also resulted in the loss of jobs and layoff of some employees in the course of creating efficiency within organizations is also a fact that cannot be denied. The major difficulty therefore arises in the attempt to balance the positive impacts and the negative impacts of technology on economic progress, employment and the consequent social change. Thus, while the proponents of the argument that technological automation is likely to create higher unemployment going forward are pitching their argument on the negative effects that technology has created historically, the opponents of this argument counter it with pointing at the positive effects of employment creation arising from technological automation. Overall, there is no single industry in the global economy that has not felt the impacts of technological changes that have created automation and replaced manual processes. The difference emanates from the fact that; while technological automation has favorably affected certain industries, it has affected the other industries unfavorably (EMSI, n.p.). Thus, whether technological automation increases or decreases unemployment, is all dependent on which industry is affected. For example, a study undertaken by the Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) to assess the impact of automation on job losses in different industries indicated that the tourism industry in the USA has lost 24% of its jobs by laying-off 38,000 workers between 2002 and 2014 (EMSI, n.p.). However, the internet marketing industry created 99,000 new jobs between the same 12 year period running between 2002 and 2014 (EMSI, n.p.). The increase or decrease in employment has a major impact on the social equal ity or inequality within the society, respectively. Nevertheless, it can be easily concluded that a new era