This is true, but better tooled, equipped humans do more work and so you need fewer of them.
When your landscaping company buys an excavator, one person can now move as much earth as 15 people used to. You don't keep the other 14 on the payroll.
When your landscaping company buys an excavator, one person can now move as much earth as 15 people used to. You don't keep the other 14 on the payroll.
I've seen one fascinating example where pay per unit eventually boiled down to 40 cents per hour. That was the point where the automatons simply could no longer keep up. Some would decline to do the manual work. Those who did got the less frequent better paid contracts that paid up to 20 euro per hour. (for which no machine exists)
Producing more with less human input is how we raise the living standards of everyone in the long term.
Not pure 'automation' but rather 1 person overseeing several lightly automated processes.
So while 25 years ago you had 4 Operators doing 4 tasks together, you now have 1 Operator doing the 4 tasks with automated assistance.
Also often this person will make less than his individual 4 predecessors due to 'Tiered' wage systems. While being more physically(previous operators taking turns doing physical tasks, etc) and now mentally exhausted(ensuring process is correct) than them as well.