Labor security

New Job-Killer Drones Look to Put Over 4.23 Million Americans Out of Work

A report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) on Monday estimates that commercial applications for drones will replace $127 billion in services and labor annually "in the very near future," signaling a growing tide toward automation that could threaten the American working class.

Drones could serve to disproportionately devastate the construction and agricultural industries, accounting for nearly $80 billion of employment related "savings."

A person earning what economists now consider a "living wage" of $15/hr earns roughly $30,000 over the course of a year. Assuming that is the living wage baseline, widespread drone use could result in 4.23 million lost jobs, or some 3.5% of the entire US workforce. In reality, many Americans in these sectors earn closer to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and so the job-destroying ramifications, seen as dire, may in fact be cataclysmic.