>Yea, that's a simple flip response to the problem, Mike. Change it to 'have the company help find them relevant jobs' and you'd be on to something.
>
>I've been luck in my 30+ years in this business. I've automated many jobs out from under people, but in virtually every case they were trivialish but necessary and the employers saw fit to re-assign the displaced workers to other more meaningful/profitable work, even providing training as necessary. I really haven't been in such a position in the last 10 or so years, so that practise may well have changed, but I sure hope not.

Hi Jim,

This might be the case in an ideal world. And sometimes I wish it was. But the harsh realities of life are a lot like the way Mike H. sees this. More & more companies are concerned with the bottom line.

In the late 80’s – early 90’s I was a senior draftsman at NorTel. All drawings were on the board. Then came PC’s ( Mac’s ) Although I learned this new tool. The enviable came to be. They cut the department loose saying the Spec. Writers could now do the drawing. The PC meant that you didn’t need drafting skills. All you have to do is let the PC do the work. ( Once I’d build the library of parts. )

As I interpret from what Mike H. says, you got to change with the times. As you remember a lot of people were wiped out in 1991. This is what will happen again here. Which is very unfortunate. Many of the people I knew that got wiped out then have recovered. I am now doing this. I’d rather do the job I trained most of my life for. But this does the trick quite well.

Mike