Fast Use of New Industrial Technology Will Minimize Joblessness, Study Says
WASHINGTON -- Rapid adoption of new industrial technology in the U.S. will minimize unemployment rather than expand the jobless rolls, a National Academy of Sciences study concluded.</br></br>In today's climate of rising trade competition, improved technology is increasingly important for the U.S. to compete with foreign countries, the report said. By adding new technological methods slowly, the nation's manufacturers will lose ground to foreign concerns and contribute to unemployment, the academy said.</br></br>"The alternative to rapid rates of technological change is stagnation in U.S. wages and employment," the report said. It added:"Higher productivity growth, which is supported by technological change, is essential to the maintenance of higher real earnings and the preservation of U.S. jobs."</br></br>The conclusion challenged widespread concerns that new technology will spur unemployment by replacing workers with automated manufacturing techniques. But the study acknowledged that technological changes can cause "painful and costly adjustments," involving temporary job reductions; it recommended stepped up federal actions to soften the impact of such changes.</br></br>The recommendations gave some support to legislation pending in Congress that would require employers to notify workers as long as six months in advance of any plant closing, major layoffs or sharp reductions in work hours.