Should increased automation mean higher wage?

[number one]

How many jobs will disappear with increased automation? We are being told how good these parcel machines are and how many items they can sort compared to hand sorting. These machines will ultimately lead to job losses. If we have less employees then why is it unreasonable to make sure those still employed are paid well?

[Foxel]

Absolutely, but it won't.

The idea of technology reducing labour has two routes, the utopian leisure lifestyle of less work more money, maybe something like UBI. Or, and without doubt the way things are going, the Orwellian class divide, the rich just get richer.

[Sir Henry]

why is it unreasonable to make sure those still employed are paid well?

It's not but they just haven't reduced the number of employees to those they consider to be worth paying well.
The number? Two. A man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.

[Tman]

why is it unreasonable to make sure those still employed are paid well?

It's not but they just haven't reduced the number of employees to those they consider to be worth paying well.
The number? Two. A man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.

Automation reduces staff costs and that's the ultimate aim of any successful business.
As Henry Ford discovered, it also permits the de-skilling of the workforce, so given those two it's a fantasy to think those remaining staff would get any sort of pay rise beyond what is absolutely necessary.

[Woody Guthrie]

As Henry Ford discovered, it also permits the de-skilling of the workforce

Only where the automation replaces a skill like robot welding or machining.

When automation simply replaces grunt as it does in this industry it can hardly be used to de-skill an unskilled workforce can it?

When automation replaces unskilled work the only end result can be a higher paid albeit much reduced workforce since the only jobs left must be skilled.

The problem is that automation is like being constantly chased by lions, they'll take the slowest or least skilled first but they'll keep coming until only the most highly skilled are left.

How far does that go before it's economically unsustainable to have everybody else serving coffee?