Emily Stewart Robots Were Supposed To Take Our Jobs Summary

In the Vox news article, “Robots were supposed to take our jobs. Instead, they are making them worse”, published in July of 2021, the author, Emily Stewart describes technology’s negative impacts on workers, stating that surveillance of workers, through technology, creates a toxic work environment. Stewart fails to recognize that these current issues are not new. Since the start of the industrial revolution, many workplaces have been run by greedy power-hungry executives, creating the same toxic workplace we have now. Stewart also does not consider that technology in the workplace can be equally beneficial to both employees and employers.

Emily Stewart expresses her thoughts on robots in the workplace, using surveillance in big companies as

Stewart fails to mention that toxic control of employees, by companies, has been happening long before technology blew up in the workforce. The author’s use of Gig jobs, as proof of robots, making jobs worse did not recognize that these practices have been common practice for years. Truck drivers, with their own trucks, have always been classified as independent and therefore have never been entitled to benefit, as with many other services such as massage therapist and estheticians who are often hired as independent contractors and only rent out the space for a percent of their daily earnings. Another point made by Stewart was the rating system, and how this put so much stress on the employee to perform faster, better and more efficiently. The work done by customer service personnel has always been scrutinized by customers and this has always affected whether an employer decided to keep the employee, Delivery trucks have signs on them with a phone number for people to put in complaints about their driving, technology hasn’t really changed this practice. Technology, does make it easier to exploit employees, but the practice has been ongoing for more than two centuries. The article fails in recognizing that since the industrial revolution many workplaces have been controlling their employees

With technology, employees could continue to work and receive pay. The ability to work from home did not stop since, many employees are still working from home, reducing unnecessary costs of travelling, going out to eat, and sometimes even child care. Durning covid restaurants were able to stay open due to gig jobs, like DoorDash and Uber Eats, these gig jobs also created more job opportunities, as many places were laying off employees. Even now, when covid is not as big of an issue, gig jobs are still beneficial to employees, it gives the workers the opportunity to pick when they work, making the job more flexible around the employees lives. This benefit extends to employers, with the use of remote employees, many buildings and the expense of maintaining and heating them are no longer needed therefore cutting costs for the employer. With the use of technology employers are also able to advertise job opportunities to wider range of people, helping to recruit employees and fill positions faster. Stewart’s article failed to recognize any of the positives that come with technology in the workforce, putting a very negative view on