8. Loss of employment

Inevitably, since ICT can automate many jobs and do them not only faster but also more accurately, then many of the old jobs have disappeared.

We no longer have typing pools full of secretaries, there is no need for an office full of clerks to calculate and count out weekly wages, there is no need for printers to manually typeset the newspaper pages. Many hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs as these changes happened.

Job loss is not pleasant; it affects peoples' self worth and creates all kinds of stress and disruption in families and society in general.

Skilled workers needed

Technology drives much of business these days and so most companies want workers with the basic skills to use it - typing for example or being able to use email. This is called 'computer literacy' and it is becoming as important as reading and writing in the job market.

This gap between people with computer skills and those with none is part of the 'digital divide'.