The cost of capital versus labor has shifted significantly in favor of capital over the last few decades. And in many cases, automation is the only way many modern products can be manufactured.
One example ... in the 1950’s electronics assembly involved large factories with hundreds of assemblers (mostly women) with soldering irons. A modern 2014 electronics assembly plant will have a half dozen employees and rows of machines - pick-and-place machines to mount parts on printed circuit boards, reflow soldering machines for soldering and then automated test and inspection stations.
One recent interview with the president of a smallish automated assembly house said the production he achieved with 6 employees would have required 600 employees with hand assembly. But hand assembly of small surface mount components is extremely difficult and can only be accomplished practically with machinery.
The rise of automation and robots pushes jobs into two categories. One being a relatively few but high paying jobs for the machine designers and second being jobs that are not susceptible to automation, such as building maintenance or landscaping.
The west went through the transition from 90% of the workforce being employed in agriculture to 5% agriculture over nearly a century. I suspect the switch from medium skilled jobs to a bimodal few high skilled workers and lots of low skilled jobs and not so many in the middle is not going to be as smooth a transition.
I don’t care if a factory is 100% automated. If it is 100% automated THEN THERE IS LITTLE OR NO VALUE IN OFF SHORING. With the low energy costs in the USA it only makes sense. Bring it home people.The next war might be a real war, with Armies of hundreds of thousands if not millions of solders, sailors needing to be equipped. How are going to do that now?