Interesting speech given by Carney today

Moto2

My job entails installing and repairing bits of self-service kit that replace one worker for every 1.5 we install (usually). These particular machines cost £260/week to lease and generally run for 12 hrs/day
Somewhere that employed 6-8 people, now manages with 2.

It can be quite uncomfortable going into some of the sites for the initial survey or install.

Sapphire

Moto2 wrote: »

My job entails installing and repairing bits of self-service kit that replace one worker for every 1.5 we install (usually). These particular machines cost £260/week to lease and generally run for 12 hrs/day
Somewhere that employed 6-8 people, now manages with 2.

It can be quite uncomfortable going into some of the sites for the initial survey or install.

I remember going to typesetters (I work in publishing) and seeing the skills that all the compositors working there had. They all lost their jobs to computerisation. Recently, there was a programme on TV about the building of the Severn Bridge in the Sixties. The Welsh workers (baby boomer generation) talked with such pride about their work on the bridge, even though six people died in the building of it. It's a great shame that all the wonderful skills people once had in this country (in pottery making, for instance) have disappeared. Within living memory, 'Made in England' was a label that was respected the world over, and a sign of quality. But in the drive to achieve ever cheaper goods for the 'must-have' lifestyles many people have been persuaded are essential for happiness, made by workers for constantly decreasing payments, and with huge damage to the environment, we have lost a lot, I feel.

An additional downside to globalisation has been the loss of close-knit communities built up over many years among people who all worked in the same industries – many people now feel so alienated from each other.