Avoiding the Sack

It’s preseason, but the National Football League has started its 2023 season.  There was a game on last night and more to come in the next few days.  Quarterbacks are arguably the most important player on the field.  They lead, execute strategies, and take blame when things don’t go their team’s way.  The role requires them to be under constant pressure from the opposing defense.

America’s workforce is kind of like the quarterback of our economy.  They lead output with their consumption.  Each day they perform according to the desires of their bosses, and if something goes wrong in that execution, they could be blamed.  But do they have an opposing team chasing them down?

One factory making drills in North Carolina might argue yes.  A manufacturer is making 130 cordless drills every hour.  The kicker, however, is that it only takes seven people to run the factory.  According this article from The Economist, even China cannot keep up with this pace.  They would need roughly 40 people to produce just 100 drills.

Many workers are scrambling as life has thrown them an unforeseeable defense for which they may not have prepared an audible.  Machine learning paired with automation threatens to replace workers.  The gig economy is not offering that stability households need.  Dark clouds of artificial intelligence seem to be gathering on the horizon. 

Some workers, however, are in the middle of an audible.  For instance, unions are striking in Hollywood.  Hospitality workers have also walked off the job in recent weeks.  A prominent delivery firm seems to have avoided a similar tactic, averting one of the largest strikes in U.S. history.

Quarterbacks constantly try to evade pursuers.  Workers are also attempting to evade being sacked.  For many, technology is like a blitzing linebacker.  They are hoping not to be drilled and carried out of their field, but it has happened before.  People used to lay out integrated circuits by hand.  Now, computer chips are too small and instead represent a fumble risk for humans on a factory floor.  Workers will likely need to keep upskilling.  Similar to a quarterback who plays against the same defensive coordinators several time in a career, America’s labor force will likely do best if it can remain flexible and nimble while avoiding taking a hit for a loss.