It was a long time ago, but
I was an elevator operator once. That was back in the days when elevators were
not push-button automatic and needed a human to guide them from floor to floor
with a physical hand control lever.
It was only a part-time
thing. I was bellhop in a hotel and was required to relieve the regular
operator during her lunch or dinner.
It was wonderful work. You
had the challenge of making swift but smooth rides without jerky stops and
starts. And, you had to align the elevator cage floor exactly with the hotel
floor so no one would trip getting on or off.
Best of all was meeting the
people. Many remarkable folks and many interesting conversations, often brief
but interesting.
The most interesting and
remarkable – at least for a young guy – were the June Taylor dancers from the
Jackie Gleason Show, who were brought in for several performances at the
Canadian Lakehead Exhibition, a very big show back in those times. The young ladies
all were stunningly beautiful, pleasantly chatty and complimentary about how
smoothly I operated the elevator.
The memories of elevator
work came flooding back recently when I read a story about how elevator operating
has survived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Several thousand people work as
elevator operators there because of 1991 state law that requires elevator
attendants in commercial buildings five or more storeys.
The elevator jobs that
remain, however, are in jeopardy. A court recently ruled against the 1991 law, saying
that it unreasonably burdens building owners. In other words, owners have to
pay operators wages that could be used to fatten profits.
Elevator operators
disappeared in most places decades ago along with telephone operators. The Rio
story highlighted the seemingly never-ending stream of lost jobs in our society.
In the last month we have
had the news of General Motors closing its Oshawa plant, knocking thousands of
autoworkers out of jobs throughout the Canadian auto industry. And, the loss of
700 jobs in Sydney, N.S. when Servicom Canada closed its call centre.
Too many workers in Canada
and elsewhere around the world, are losing their livelihoods. Too few jobs are
being created to provide alternate employment.
It makes you wonder about
the future and how many people who want to work will be able to find jobs as
companies seeking to build profits turn to more automation. The concern has
helped generate talk, and some experiments, of a guaranteed basic annual income
for people without enough basic employment to sustain them.
But jobs are about more than
money. Jobs provide fulfilment and help to build social connections and the
person-to-person communication that is such an important part of living. Humans
are wired for social connections and useful work.
An elevator operator explained
the importance of a job and communication in a New York Times interview for the
Rio de Janeiro story.
“You’re never bored,” said Roselia da Conceição. “You’re always talking and interacting with
people, you learn a lot and you create a type of intimacy.”
Huge networks of social
connections are cut when a plant closes or when jobs such as elevator operators
become redundant.
We live in an increasing
angry and violent world. Older people will tell you that the extent of the
anger and its resulting turmoil are unprecedented in their lifetimes.
You have to wonder if at
least part of the cause is a lack of fulfilling work and the social benefits it
provides.
The future of jobs is a
serious worry.
The International Labor
Organization has released a 2018 report on world employment and social trends. It
estimates that 1.4 billion workers were in ‘vulnerable’ employment in 2017 and
that an additional 35 million will join
them by 2019.
Vulnerable employment is a job with inadequate
earnings, low productivity, difficult working conditions and little or no
security. In many cases vulnerable employment is work grudgingly offered because
it is needed today, but likely will not be in the future.
As more jobs disappear you have to
worry about what the future will look like. We can be positive and hope it will
not be as angry and violent as it is today.
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