Technological unemployment

Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren (1930) by John Maynard Keynes

We are being afflicted with a new disease of which some readers may not yet have heard the name, but of which they will hear a great deal in the years to come—namely, technological unemployment. This means unemployment due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour.

Machines and Man (1952) by Wassily Leontief

Will the machine-press operator be able to earn his $3,000 when an automatic controlling device takes over his job? The answer must depend in part on the speed with which the labor force is able to train and to retrain itself. If such upgrading were to fall behind the demand of the changing technology, semi-skilled and unskilled workers certainly would su er unemployment or at least sharply reduced earning power.

The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Felten2023Occupational