Yep, Self-Driving Cars to Transform 1 in 9 U.S. Jobs
Self-driving vehicles, from cars to trucks to shuttle buses, will have a disruptive effect as that technology is adopted. From a thematic perspective, we see it further transforming the retail landscape as well as shifting how people think about their cars, one of the most underutilized assets around. We also see the technology serving as an enabler to our Aging of the Population theme, but yes, one downside like we’ve seen with other disruptive technologies over the years is jobs.
Self-driving vehicles have the potential to reshape a wide range of occupations held by roughly one in nine American workers, according to a new U.S. government report.
- About 3.8 million people drive taxis, trucks, ambulances and other vehicles for a living.
- An additional 11.7 million workers drive as part of their work, including personal care aides, police officers, real-estate agents and plumbers.
In all, that’s roughly 11.3% of total U.S. employment based on 2015 occupational data, according to the analysis by three Commerce Department economists.
If businesses embrace autonomous vehicles on a large scale, workers in the first category are “more likely to be displaced” from their jobs, while workers in the latter group “may be more likely to benefit from greater productivity and better working conditions,” wrote David Beede, Regina Powers and Cassandra Ingram in the report, released Friday.
Source: Self-Driving Cars Could Transform Jobs Held by 1 in 9 U.S. Workers – Real Time Economics – WSJ
