Automation Canada Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 1 - 4

their jobs were replaced by technology. The
answer is simple, many moved into urban
areas and into manufacturing jobs (making
the technology that replaced their former
positions) and into mechanical and
maintenance positions to keep the new
technology operational.
Does this sound at all familiar? It should. The
modern technological trend toward robotics
and automation has quite a few similarities to
the previous workforce shift. Many of the
positions that required less direct skills and
were more labour intensive were transitioned
to technologically advanced machines
throughout the first half of the 1900's. And
now we are seeing a very similar trend, where
labour intensive manufacturing roles are
again being replaced with technological
advancements. Freeing workers and new
generations to focus on educated positions
that develop and support advancing
technology.

Therefore, I cannot agree with some
opinions that robots are going to steal jobs
to the point where we see massive numbers
of declining employment. Yes, we will likely
see dips as the transition is happening, but in
the end implementing robots into our
operations has opened far more doors than it
has closed.
As a society, we need to embrace change to
meet the demands presented by robotics,
automation, and the vast number of new
roles that have been made available as a
result.
Sources
Lew Byron and Cater Bruce, Farm
Mechanization on an Otherwise 'Featureless'
Plain: Tractors on the Northern Great Plains
and Immigration Policy of the 1920s.
Department of Economics, Trent University,
2014

Each time a major workforce shift occurs
there is certainly a period of transition, and
there is no denying that during these
transitions there are those who will go
through difficulties. Particularly those who
have spent years in the types of roles that are
being replaced. However, in the long game
we will drive our workforce to be better
educated
and
focused
more
on
advancement than repetitive task-oriented
positions.
C A N A D I A N A U TO M AT I O N

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

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Automation Canada Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automation Canada Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 1
