Embracing the Self-Service Economy

If self-service technology were more widely deployed, the economy would be approximately $ billion larger annually.
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• ITIF: Embracing the Self-Service Economy
• Technology and Automation Create, Not Destroy, Jobs | The Innovation Files
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• Technology and Automation Create, Not Destroy, Jobs

Generally it destroys lower wage, lower productivity jobs, while it creates jobs that are more productive, high-skill and better paid. Historically, the income-generating effects of new technologies have proved more powerful than the labor-displacing effects: But if economies want to create jobs over the medium- to long-run, embracing self-service technology is a key way to do so, for two key reasons.

First, there are jobs created in the companies providing self-service technologies. Second, and more importantly, as consumers pay relatively less for goods and services, they have more purchasing power which stimulates a growth in other sectors, leading to a self-reinforcing economic expansion.

With unemployment at over 9 percent and the country suffering its highest average duration of unemployment since at least , a focus on the best policies to boost U. If it had grown at the rate of GDP, there would be 2 million more manufacturing jobs and 8 million more jobs total with the multiplier effect.

So what the U. The evidence is clear: My recent book is devoted to this topic. After reading your blog, I thought I should share my ideas here. Losing jobs to technology is part of technological evolutionwe are all going thru. The misunderstanding that technologyrobs our jobs comes up only during recession times as it becomesone of the targets to blame. However, during economic boomwhere the job losses are more to technology will not be noticedas equally more number of jobs are created and employees who loosejobs find other jobs quickly. I have explained in my bookwho is responsible for this hardship and why.

The Art of Looking into the Future: The Five Principles of Technological Evolution. But what if some or most of the benefits of automation go to another source; greater profits for the owners of the corporation? Then there is no feedback into the economy. The benefits of automation are to some degree taken out of the system and held in a very few hands. The author overlooks these facts. The facts simply do not support Mr.

The benefits of automation are not being evenly distributed across the population, or even with the inventors. Money taken by the government is paid to government workers and government contractors and flows right back into the economy. In the end, the jobs will be destroyed, and the end may not be far off 30 years. In a experiment, McDonald's found that customers using self-service kiosks supersized their meals, spending 30 per cent more on average. We're more willing to increase the order when we're not worrying about the person behind the cash judging our choices.

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Some people like to have a very private experience. So if I'm going in and buying something that's maybe a personal item, I might prefer to buy it on my own without help," says Christina Forest, a senior project manager for Fujitsu, which makes self-checkout machines. The latest technology can also include wearable sensors that alert employees to when you need assistance.

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Aside from the obvious technology costs, having customers do some work themselves can mean less overhead costs for companies. Are those savings being passed on to the consumer? Marketplace spoke to leading retailers and industry experts and found no clear evidence that is always the case. Generally it doesn't," Lambert says. And do self-checkouts get you out of the store faster? Marketplace timed shoppers with identical grocery lists to see how cashiers compare to self-checkouts.

The cashier was able to get through the transaction faster and with fewer problems. There's also some evidence that age matters when it comes to who is willing to embrace the machines. According to the U. Cody Turner, a year-old photographer in Toronto, prefers the self-serve approach when it comes to everything from buying concert tickets to online banking to choosing his own airline seat. It's easy, he says, and it saves him time.

But love it or hate it, Lambert says self-service is here to stay. And it will become more prevalent. There's no pleasantries going back and forth between you and the kiosk. And as a result, it somewhat dehumanizes daily life. Jenni Murray, a columnist for the U.

K newspaper Daily Mail, wrote she finds the increasing dependence on self-checkouts "a frustrating, depressing experience.