Automation has contributed to modern industry in many ways. Automation raises several important social issues. Among them is automation’s impact on employment/unemployment. Automation leads to fuller employment. When automation was first introduced, it caused widespread fear. It was thought that the displacement of human workers by computerized systems would lead to unemployment (this also happened with mechanization, centuries earlier). In fact the opposite was true, the freeing up of the labor force allowed more people to enter information jobs, which are typically higher paying. One odd side effect of this shift is that “unskilled labor” now pays very well in most industrialized nations, because fewer people are available to fill such jobs leading to supply and demand issues.
Some argue the reverse, at least in the long term. First, automation has only just begun and short-term conditions might partially obscure its long-term impact. For instance many manufacturing jobs left the United States during the early 1990s, but a massive up scaling of IT jobs at the same time offset this as a whole. Currently, for manufacturing companies, the purpose of automation has shifted from increasing productivity and reducing costs to increasing quality and flexibility in the manufacturing process.
Another important social issue of automation is better working conditions. The automated plants needs controlled temperature, humidity, and dust free environment for proper functioning of automated machines. Thus the workers get a very good environment to work in.
Automation leads to safety of workers. By automating the loading and unloading operations, the chances of accidents to the workers get reduced.
Workers expect an increase in standard of living with the help of automation. Standards of living go up with the increase in productivity, and automation is the sure method of increasing productivity. The cost of color TVs, washing machines, and stereos has declined, thus enabling a large number of households to buy these products.