Job
jitters are vexing
America. Not even the
striking gains in
employment over the last
two months have put an
end to hand wringing
over work being
"outsourced"
to low-wage countries.
Americans had become
used to shedding factory
jobs, but the technology
and service jobs now at
risk were supposed to be
secure, the guarantee of
our future. So we're
left to wonder: what
will Americans do?
Well,
just like previous
generations of
Americans, they'll learn
to do something
different from what
they've done in the
past.
Our
history is one of a
constant churning of
jobs, with workers
always finding the next
step forward in the
evolution of work —
from farm hands to
industrial workers to
information handlers.
They will do so again.
As existing jobs succumb
to shifts in technology
and trade, the economy
will adjust, creating
new work that uses new
skills and talents. Over
time, workers move up
what we call a
"hierarchy of human
talents" — they
find jobs that demand
higher-order skills and
offer better pay and
working conditions. As
depicted in this
chart, the hierarchy
provides a guide to the
traits and qualities
that will dominate the
next employment wave.
Over
the past decade the
biggest employment gains
came in occupations that
rely on people skills
and emotional
intelligence — like
nurse and lawyer — and
among jobs that require
imagination and
creativity: designer,
architect and
photographer. But not
all of the new jobs
require advanced degrees
or exceptional artistic
talent; note the rise of
employment for hair
stylists and
cosmetologists.
Trying
to preserve existing
jobs will prove futile
— trade and technology
will transform the
economy whether we like
it not. Americans will
be better off if they
strive to move up the
hierarchy of human
talents. That's where
our future lies.
W.
Michael Cox and Richard
Alm are, respectively,
chief economist and
economics writer at the
Federal Reserve Bank of
Dallas. Nigel Holmes is
a graphic designer.