It's all our fault

[TheBigYinJames]

A lot of people blame (or attribute) our recent prosperity and the development of the big bubble we're suffering the burst of now, to the import of cheap immigrant labour to buoy up what was already a failing econonmy. If we hadn't had Poles working for minimum wage, we'd have felt this years ago.

But I suspect there is another influence - automation of clerical work by IT systems. At my time at Barclays, I personally automated the dull repetitive paper-sifting tasks for dozen, perhaps hundreds of people. The rise of web shopping has done away with the need to pay people in local towns etc to staff expensive shops. All the back end systems for big companies we so dilgently write do away with the need for armies of expensive pen-pushers.

It's all our fault.

[Spacecadet]

They'll need those cost saving IT systems even more now with this reecession on the way

[HairyArsedBloke]

They'll need those cost saving IT systems even more now with this reecession on the way

And they will be supplied by the lowest cost provider. "Miss Patel, please get Bob Shawadiwadi on the line".

[BrilloPad]

A lot of people blame (or attribute) our recent prosperity and the development of the big bubble we're suffering the burst of now, to the import of cheap immigrant labour to buoy up what was already a failing econonmy. If we hadn't had Poles working for minimum wage, we'd have felt this years ago.

But I suspect there is another influence - automation of clerical work by IT systems. At my time at Barclays, I personally automated the dull repetitive paper-sifting tasks for dozen, perhaps hundreds of people. The rise of web shopping has done away with the need to pay people in local towns etc to staff expensive shops. All the back end systems for big companies we so dilgently write do away with the need for armies of expensive pen-pushers.

It's all our fault.

I read somewhere that 50% of the productivity improvements from the last 10 years having come from IT - who employ 1% of the population.

Thogh I was responsible for 5% of that - I wish the rest of you would pull your weight a bit more......

[ThomasSoerensen]

You think I should feel bad?

I am not so sure.

Every man for himself in these times and all that.

[Xenophon]

Every man for himself in these times and all that.

Wise words.

[xoggoth]

I still blame socialism. If we combined technical progress with progressive extermination of the unskilled there would be no problem.

[BrilloPad]

You think I should feel bad?

I am not so sure.

Every man for himself in these times and all that.

Why just in these times?

[ThomasSoerensen]

Why just in these times?

I agree that for me it is always like that.

Some suckers are on selfish bastards in hard times though. Monkeys.

[SantaClaus]

I read somewhere that 50% of the productivity improvements from the last 10 years having come from IT - who employ 1% of the population.

Thogh I was responsible for 5% of that - I wish the rest of you would pull your weight a bit more......

Its all your fault Brillo. Your company practically invented CDS's.
Oh sh!t, that must mean I coded them