TECHNOLOGY AT WORK

February 2015
Citi GPS: Global Perspectives & Solutions
63
Entirely new occupations and industries are
being created as a result of digital
technology
Technology and New Work
Digital technologies do not only destroy jobs, but also create jobs in entirely new
occupations and industries. For example, computer technology has recently given
rise to many new occupations, such as database administrators and web designers.
Beyond computer-related jobs, occupations such as that of the radiation therapist
similarly underwent significant changes, following the arrival of new technologies.
After the first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine was patented in 1974,
leading the way for the proliferation of MRI scanning techniques, a new
occupational title emerged: MRI special procedures technologist, operating and
monitoring diagnostic imaging equipment. Indeed, the more than 1,500 new job
titles that appeared in the occupational classifications following the invention of the
PC reflect a pervasive transformation of the world of work. 84
New technologies have also created entirely new industries. Consider the Video
and Audio Streaming industry, which appeared as a new title in 2010, following a
series of recent innovations — in 1999, Apple developed QuickTime, a programme
capable of handling various video formats, and in 2002, Adobe introduced Flash, a
streaming format that is used by YouTube.
The Video and Audio Streaming industry is not an isolated example: Internet news
publishers, Social Networking Services and Internet video broadcast sites are all
new industry titles that are associated with the advent of the World Wide Web. 85
Figure 50. New industries emerging from digitisation
Detailed Industry % of New Industry Titles % of U.S. Employment % with College degree Avg. Wage ($)
Internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portals 85.7% 0.06% 69.6% $ 81,138
Electronic shopping 42.8% 0.08% 49.7% $ 45,372
Data processing, hosting, and related services 32.0% 0.08% 48.0% $ 64,729
Electronic auctions 66.6% 0.01% 52.2% $ 47,257
Source: Berger and Frey (2014b)
However, studies have found that the
number of new jobs created from the arrival
of new technologies throughout the 2000s
has been strikingly small
Although there are a number of measurement problems associated with examining
the share of jobs that stems directly from new technologies, new industry titles that
emerge in official classifications as a result of new technologies becoming available,
at least provide an indication. Thus, a recent study by Thor Berger and Carl Benedikt
Frey used such data to systematically capture employment opportunities created by
new industries of the 2000s in the United States. Their findings are quite revealing.
First, the magnitude of new jobs created from the arrival of new technologies
throughout the 2000s has been strikingly small: in 2010 only about 0.5% of the US
workforce was employed in new industries that did not exist a decade earlier. 86
Second, workers in these industries are substantially better educated than the
average population and earned much higher wages: the average wage for workers
in new industries is more than twice the US median wage. For any given level of
education, workers with a STEM degree are also more likely to work in new
industries.
Jobs created through technological progress
have been largely confined to skilled
workers
Hence, in short, although technological progress continues to create new jobs,
these have largely been confined to skilled workers. Cities and nations with a large
pool of skilled workers have thus benefited disproportionally from recent
technological change.
84 Berger and Frey (2014a).
85 Berger and Frey (2014b).
86 ibid
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