i have never worked a 40 hour work week
and most of my employees dont either
20 years ago, my average was 70 hour + weeks
now, i put in 45-55 hours per week depending on what is going on....time of year....how busy the stores are
most of my salesforce works 50-55 hours per week
not including the owner, total wages averaged just over 90k per employee
we expect more....we pay more....
as far as what will happen to jobs in the future
more and more will be automated.....and some industries will go by the wayside
just as buggy whip makers were put out of business with the advent of the automobile
new technology will create new industries, and new jobs....
they will require an educated workforce that can think on their feet....and that can adjust with the times
those that can do that will thrive.....those that cant will find it a hard place to make a living
and this is today's dilemma
which will be magnified many times in the near future
the new jobs - for the most part - will require an educated work force
presently, about one in three kids do not graduate from high school
and some of those who did receive a HS diploma are not educated or very educatable relative to the needs of a higher technologically skilled work force. many on the margins are not your STEM students, positioned to learn tomorrow's skills
those that are bright and have the desire to learn and accomplish will have a very bright future. my son cannot find enough capable software programmers to fulfill a $160,000 entry level position
every student in china studies programming
how many do in the USA? (in 2012, only 1.4% of the
AP students took the computer science exam. that stat is alarming)
this is presented as a singular example that our public policy in this regard is one carried over from the past and policy not focused towards the future
now, with computers being able to perform many of the low skill jobs, what becomes of those one-in-three Americans who cannot qualify for a high school diploma? how do they feed/clothe/house themselves and their families without having access to employment sufficient to provide a living wage
we are seeing the front end of this wave now, with the displacement of under-skilled workers for better skilled workers as a consequence of the great recession
there will be a tsunami to follow