The rise of electric cars in the industry has provided some advantages for the car enthusiasts and owners. However, there is another side effect that needs to be recognized as well. According to the latest report, the self-driving revolution is set to lay off more than 4.1 million employees.
Market Watch reported that the emerging demand for electric vehicles has taken its toll when it comes to employment. The blog specifically mentioned professional drivers, who are threatened to lose their jobs.
The website listed down an intricate computation of what to expect if professional drivers would be hired. So far, they claimed that after the estimation, there must be around 4.1 million jobs waiting.
However, the companies are reconsidering the numbers. Of course, hiring a professional driver requires a payroll, paid sick and vacation leave, paid overtime, medical benefits, and so on.
A Business Insider report also stated that Uber lost $1.68 billion in the first 3 quarters of 2015, which is possibly among the reasons why the firm decided to push for autonomous vehicles. In order to save money that is supposed to be paid for professional drivers, the ride-hailing firm seems to have decided to remove the human factor in their operations instead.
As a result, truck companies are also thinking about self-driving technologies, and that might lead to more unemployment in the near future. Trucking firms are not likely to go fully autonomous immediately, but it might take effect a few years from now.
If that is going to be the case, many professional drivers will eventually lose their jobs in the coming years. Wolfstreet blogger Wolf Richter wrote in his journal that the magnitude of the problem is breathtaking.
"These people can't easily switch to writing software. There's no room for them in manufacturing. Even the fast-food sector is getting automated, as are many other jobs, including writing stories for the major wire and news services," Richter said.
"It all might be happening faster than society is prepared to deal with it. And we're not even talking about it!"
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