Two recent articles shed light on the 'crapification' of jobs and
the rise of income inequality:
Martin Wolf on the Low Labor
Participation as the Result of the Crapification of Jobs (Naked
Capitalism)
The Measured Worker: The
technology that illuminates worker productivity and value also contributes to
wage inequality. (Technology Review, via John S.P.)
While both articles offer
valuable insights into the secular trend of stagnating employment and wages, I
think both miss a couple of key dynamics. As a general starting point: if you want to understand the
'crapification' of jobs and wages, we have to look at the 'crapification' of
the economy from the perspective of those who are doing the hiring: the
employers.
From the perspective of
employees, the 'crapification' of jobs boils down to 1) low/stagnant wages for
2) highly structured, boring, repetitive and often difficult work. The decline in the quality, pay and upward
mobility of jobs is directly related to the dynamics of globalization,
financialization, and the surplus of ordinary labor and capital:
