87. As technology and changing social needs render more and more jobs
obsolete1,
who is responsible for helping2 displaced workers adjust? While individuals have
primary responsibility for learning new skills and finding work, both industry and
government have some obligation to provide them the means of doing so.
l agree that individuals must assume primary responsibility for adjusting to job
obsolescence3, especially since our educational system has been preparing us for it. For
decades, our schools have been counseling young people to expect and prepare for
numerous major career changes during their lives. And concerned educators have
recognized and responded to this eventuality with a broader base of practical and
theoretical coursework that affords students the flexibility4 to move from one career to
another.
However, industry should bear some of the responsibility as well. It is industry,
after all, that determines the particular directions technological5 progress and subsequent
social change will take. And since industry is mainly responsible for worker
displacement6, it has a duty to help displaced workers adjust—through such means as
on-site training programs and stipends7 for further education.
Government should also assume some of the responsibility, since it is partly
government money that fuels technological progress in industry. Moreover, government
should help because it can help—for example, by ensuring that grants and federally
insured student loans are available to those who must retool8 in order to find new work.
Government can also help by observing and recording9 trends in worker displacement
and in job opportunities, and by providing this information to individuals so that they
can make prudent10 decisions about their own further education and job searches.
In conclusion, while individuals should be prepared for future job changes, both
government and industry shoulder obligations to provide training programs, funding and
information that will help displaced workers successfully retool and find new
employment.
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