Are Knowledge Workers The New Working Poor?

from the life-in-the-knowledge-world dept

Richard Samson writes in with a link to his own story asking if knowledge workers are the new "working poor", and has set up a "straw poll.," asking others to chime in. Samson is the same guy who last week decided that automation wasn't a catchy enough term and had to rename it off-peopling. Seeing as he's trying to pitch his think tank, it probably helps to have a catchy name for things. The problem, in reading over his "working poor" article is that it's based on nothing other than a few anecdotes -- and taking a "straw poll" doesn't change that. There's no actual evidence. If anything, perhaps he's projecting his own experience as a knowledge worker having trouble getting his "off-peopling" business off the ground. Samson is asking some important questions, but it seems like he has the answers that he wants already in his head, and is looking just for evidence to support it.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Commentator John, 18 Mar 2005 @ 2:16pm

    I got a comment...

    Here is a comment:

    Off-Peopling is a stupid name.

    Off shore is almost as stupid. What, do these people in India work out in the water? DUH!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 18 Mar 2005 @ 10:42pm

    Low social status

    Being an IT worker doesn't carry the same respect among the general public as does being a businessman, lawyer, or doctor. IT workers are on par with nurses or firefighters on the respect scale. IT workers have the lowest job security compared to all of the above, too. A nurse with a community college degree has job security at $80k/yr and can set her own hours, while an IT worker's salary is as low as $30k, and the job offerings vary wildly from year to year.


    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.