What the recent self-service debate in Oregon reveals about the future of American employment
The state of Oregon recently made headlines when it changed a decades-old law which prevented self-service gas stations. Now, Oregonians will have the option to pump their own gasoline, provided they live in a county with less than 40,000 people. However, it has left many people questioning the role of “make-work” jobs in this economy, and whether the country is going to suffer from the impact of these small but crucial decisions.
“Most Americans pump their own gas, as New Jersey is now the only state which is strictly anti self-service stations,” says Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA and job trends expert. “However, this issue is about so much more than getting out of the car to pump your own gas. It’s about whether we are phasing out certain jobs faster than we can replace them, and what’s going to happen to unskilled laborers and those without job experience and education.”
Wilson says the phasing out of full-service stations in Oregon is similar to other industries such as fast-food and data collection and processing., which are predicted to lose 375 million jobs to automation by 2030. “It’s certain that many employees in Oregon service stations could be facing termination or a reduction in hours, provided that Oregonians are willing to pump their own gas in exchange for lower prices. The question is whether we are going to be making jobs for these unskilled laborers or those with little education and experience in order to make up for the jobs we are taking away from them.”
For more on this topic, please contact Rob Wilson at rwilson@thewilsoncompanies.com.