Again, he is not saying all jobs will leave, and I would hope that Trump and Pence are savvy enough to be mindful of that in negotiations concerning tax incentives. Trump will look very bad if there are no jobs left in a few years —which Democrat Jim Cramer and center-to-left Business Insider would probably enjoy watching :(
What would you suggest to workers...people in their late 30s, 40s, 50s; and I ask that in all sincerity. In the 80s, it was merely manufacturing jobs that were outsourced. The solution was right-to-work states to be competitive. Then jobs moved farther away for cheaper production. Today practically all jobs are at risk of outsourcing, insourcing (H-1B Visas, etc) and robotics.
Jobs leave the community and all the peripheral businesses shut down as well...Sadly, on road trips this summer, I saw towns with entire swaths of Main Street full of empty store fronts and idled factories.
What are people to do? Not everyone can major in robotic engineering...
Robotics is bogey man to scare the uninformed.
Robotics and automation create many jobs, often more than they replace.
Automation generates higher throughput and higher quality, lower cost goods.
To fully automate our country to the level of automation the scaremongers predict would take a full generation of massive industrial output and create an economic boom that would last for several lifetimes.
Back in the day, we used to ask ourselves how increasing complex technology and computer systems would be used by the great uneducated masses.
Well, look at how high tech Obama Phones are being operated quite successfully by ghetto hoods with a first grade education to see a glimpse of the future
I don't have a silver bullet answer, and I don't think anyone does.
As in most things, it's easier to say what not to do - don't ignore what's going on around you and don't ignore the laws of economics.
Like it or not, the technology genie is out of the bottle and not going back in. Our ability to automate both manufacturing and service tasks, to cheaply communicate and send work all around the world is only going to accelerate regardless of the rhetoric of politicians.
Economics says that as a producer if you don't take advantage of opportunities to reduce costs your competitors will and you'll be out of business.
The answer isn't to hide behind trade walls and try to fight off the changes. You'll lose that game in the long run as the rest of the world adopts the new capabilities. The answer is to be aggressive and embrace the possibilities. Go forth and out compete the rest of the world.
There's no doubt that individuals will be hurt as businesses transform, but that's always been the case. Technology has disrupted entire segments of the economy and that will continue to happen. I think that's good in the long run but what I think is really moot - the change is going to happen whether I like it or not.
The best solution I can come up with for the displaced workers is to offer retraining, perhaps some assistance to help people relocate to where the jobs are, and make sure new industries and jobs can grow to provide job opportunities.
I recognize that it's not a perfect solution but I do think it's better than the alternatives, and also one of the biggest issues our society will have to face over the next couple of decades.