Question

How do technological changes relate to the causes of unemployment?

Options

• Technological changes only affect rural unemployment

• Technological changes can cause unemployment by making certain skills obsolete or reducing demand for particular types of labour

• Technology has no impact on employment levels

• Technology always creates more jobs than it eliminates

Answer 1

Technological changes are identified as a major cause of unemployment because they can render existing skills obsolete and reduce demand for particular types of workers. When industries adopt new technologies, workers trained in older methods may become redundant if they lack skills to work with new systems. This technological displacement causes cyclical unemployment, particularly affecting workers in traditional sectors who cannot quickly adapt to technological shifts, leading to educated unemployment if they lack retraining opportunities.