The Automation Shock We're Pretending Not to See

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are roughly 20 million adults working as unskilled laborers in the US. Jobs like order fillers, warehouse workers, farm laborers, mail couriers, delivery drivers, shelf stockers, gig delivery workers, etc. These jobs make up about 15% of the American workforce. Within 5-10 years, most of these jobs will be done by robots.

I feel like most people aren’t really talking about it with the urgency it deserves. It’s kind of like we’re watching the early tremors of an earthquake while everyone’s still having brunch.

//Don’t get me wrong, the allure of Rosie-style maid bot is strong There’s this strange mix of awe and apathy around robotics and AI. The tech demos get attention (like a humanoid robot doing a backflip or delivering a package), but the deeper conversation about what it means for millions of workers whose jobs are physical, repetitive, and not considered “tech-proof”- barely makes a blip in public discourse.

Part of it might be psychological: to many, automation feels like a “tomorrow problem”. But when you look at what Amazon, Tesla, and even smaller startups are doing, you realize this isn’t science fiction anymore. It’s a five to ten year horizon issue, maybe even less. //What are people going to do? //Eventually, “people” will be me.