| That seminar yesterday on automation and the future of work was really good, wasn't it? |
| Looking at the first industrial revolution in Britain in the 19th century |
| and seeing how people reacted to massive change was a real eye opener. |
| Yes. |
| It was interesting to hear how people felt about automation then |
| and what challenges they faced. |
| I didn't know that first started with workers in the textile industry. |
| With those protesting workers called the Luddites |
| destroying their knitting machines because they were so worried about losing their jobs. |
| Yes, and ultimately, they didn't achieve anything. |
| And anyway, industrialisation created more jobs than it destroyed. |
| Yes, that's true, |
| but it probably didn't seem a positive thing at the time. |
| I can see why the Luddites felt so threatened. |
| I know. |
| I'm sure I would have felt the same. |
| The discussion about the future of work was really optimistic for a change. |
| I like the idea that work won't involve doing boring, repetitive tasks, |
| as robots will do all that. |
| Normally, you only hear negative stuff about the future. |
| Bit too optimistic, don't you think? |
| For example, I can't see how people are about to have more leisure time, |
| when all the evidence shows people are spending longer than ever at work. |
| No, that's true. |
| And what about lower unemployment? |
| I'm not so sure about that. |
| Perhaps in the long term, |
| but not in the foreseeable future. |
| And I expect most people will be expected to work until they're much older |
| as everyone's living much longer. |
| That's already happening. |
| I enjoyed all that stuff on how technology's changed some jobs |
| and how they're likely to change in the near future. |
| Yeah, incredible. |
| Like accountants. |
| You might think all the technological innovations would have put them out of a job, |
| but in fact there are more of them than ever. |
| They're still really in demand and have become far more efficient. |
| Right. That was amazing. |
| Twenty times more accountants in this country compared to the 19th century. |
| I know. |
| I'd never have thought that demand for hairdressing would have gone up so much in the last hundred years. |
| One hairdresser for every 287 people now, |
| compared to one for over 1,500. |
| Yeah because people's earning power has gone up so they can afford to spend more on personal services like that. |
| But technology hasn't changed the actual job that much. |
| No, they've got hairdryers, etc. |
| but it's one job where you don't depend on a computer... |
| The kind of work that administrative staff do has changed enormously, thanks to technology. |
| Even 20 years ago there were secretaries doing dictation and typing. |
| Yes. Really boring compared to these days, |
| when they're given much more responsibility and higher status. |
| A lot of graduates go in for this kind of work now... |
| I'd expected there to be a much bigger change in the number of agricultural workers in the 19th century. |
| But the 1871 census showed that roughly 25% of the population worked on the land. |
| Yeah, I'd have assumed it would be more than 50%. |
| Now it's less than 0.2%. |
| Hmm... What about care workers? |
| They barely existed in the 19th century |
| as people's lifespan was so much shorter. |
| But now of course this sector will see huge growth. |
| Yeah, and it's hard enough to meet current demand. |
| The future looks quite bleak for bank clerks. |
| They've been in decline since ATMs were introduced in the 80s. |
| And technology will certainly make most of the jobs they do now redundant, I think. |
| I agree, although the situation may change. |
| It's very hard to predict what will happen. |