The Future of Blue Collar Work in the Developed World

Reading through Innovation Nation I have come to wonder what future is there for blue collar (in the sense of factory or assembly line) workers in the developed world? We are quickly moving towards outsourcing or automation in many of the areas where blue collar workers would typically be employed. While this is happening, those what are educated, adaptable, and skilled are increasingly earning a disproportionate share of national and global income.

In the past, these blue collar workers were able to participate in the great endeavors of what is now the developed world. In the Wars, they served on the front lines, and in the factories which supplied arms and material for the fight. During the cold war, they manned the factories, and laboured in the mines which supplied goods for the growing economy. In our current environment, where mundane labour is easily shifted to where wages are lowest, or where machines can take the place of humans, what future is there for blue collar workers in rich countries.

Can we reshape what it means to have a “blue collar” job? Will people, or the children of people who once worked in factories be willing to assume different jobs? We still need garbage collectors, hair dressers, and gardeners, but are the current holders of high paid blue collar jobs prepared to make that switch? Thinking more along the lines of a greater transformation of society, will they be willing to assume the jobs which could be created for them in the future. Would they be willing to be assistants to the teachers, researchers, scientists, and artists which our societies will increasingly be relying on to deliver our economic growth, or will accepting a job of servitude be beyond the capacity of those who refuse to get the education required, or lack the motivation to prosper in an increasingly competitive, mobile, and innovative world. Will we be held hostage to an interest group with no motivation to adapt to changing circumstances, with powerful lobby groups that are able to extract subsidies and compensation from governments which could be better use to retrain them, or better invested in funding the innovation that will drive our economies forward in the future.