Responses to the Employment Consequences of Technological Change

Abstract

It is difficult not to be aware of the various new technologies and applications which are becoming available. Microelectronics is expected to form a dominant technology in the coming decades because of the trend to falling costs and increased capability plus the range of potential applications. Numerous applications of lasers and fibre optics are coming on-stream, for example in the areas of precision measurement, weaponry, communications, and metal-working. Commercially viable applications of biotechnology are also on the horizon, particularly in the areas of food ingredients, agriculture, energy and chemicals. Unfortunately, cataloguing the range of existing and possible technological developments and end-uses is easier than forecasting their overall effects on employment.