Editing Information Age (section)

===Jobs and income distribution===
The Information Age has affected the [[workforce]] in several ways, such as compelling workers to compete in a global [[job market]]. One of the most evident concerns is the replacement of human labor by computers that can do their jobs faster and more effectively, thus creating a situation in which individuals who perform tasks that can easily be [[Automation|automated]] are forced to find employment where their labor is not as disposable.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Porter|first1=Michael|title=How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage|url=https://hbr.org/1985/07/how-information-gives-you-competitive-advantage|magazine=Harvard Business Review|access-date=9 September 2015|archive-date=23 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623142530/https://hbr.org/1985/07/how-information-gives-you-competitive-advantage|url-status=live}}</ref> This especially creates issue for those in [[Industrial city|industrial cities]], where solutions typically involve lowering [[working time]], which is often highly resisted. Thus, individuals who lose their jobs may be pressed to move up into more indispensable professions (e.g. engineers, [[Doctor of Medicine|doctors]], lawyers, [[Education|teachers]], [[Professorship|professors]], scientists, [[Business executive|executives]], journalists, consultants), who are able to compete successfully in the [[world economy|world market]] and receive (relatively) high wages.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Along with automation, jobs traditionally associated with the middle class (e.g. [[assembly line]], [[data processing]], management, and [[supervision]]) have also begun to disappear as result of outsourcing.<ref name=":2">McGowan, Robert. 1991. "The Work of Nations by Robert Reich" (book review). ''[[Human Resource Management Research|Human Resource Management]]'' 30(4):535–38. {{doi|10.1002/hrm.3930300407}}. {{ISSN|1099-050X}}.</ref> Unable to compete with those in [[Developing country|developing countries]], [[Production line|production]] and service workers in [[Post-industrial society|post-industrial (i.e. developed) societies]] either lose their jobs through outsourcing, accept wage cuts, or settle for [[Entry-level job|low-skill]], [[Low-wage job|low-wage]] service jobs.<ref name=":2" /> In the past, the economic fate of individuals would be tied to that of their nation's. For example, workers in the United States were once well paid in comparison to those in other countries. With the advent of the Information Age and improvements in communication, this is no longer the case, as workers must now compete in a global [[job market]], whereby wages are less dependent on the success or failure of individual economies.<ref name=":2" />

In effectuating a [[Economic globalization|globalized workforce]], the internet has just as well allowed for increased opportunity in [[Developing country|developing countries]], making it possible for workers in such places to provide in-person services, therefore competing directly with their counterparts in other nations. This [[competitive advantage]] translates into increased opportunities and higher wages.<ref>{{Cite book|title=In defense of Globalization|last=Bhagwati|first=Jagdish N.|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2005|location=New York}}</ref>