Tech companies aren’t bad for cities, argues SV Angel’s Ron Conway. He says that each time a tech company hires an engineer, they end up hiring four additional entry-level workers to support them. That implies that when startups grow, it’s not just high-skilled computer programmers who benefit.
In this talk backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt NY, Conway discusses his thoughts on the worry that technology will destroy jobs.
While his point may hold true in the short term, the world may still need to brace itself for a massive shift in jobs and wealth from menial workers to software or robots and the techies who build them. A company like Momentum Machines might hire 100 engineers to build its hamburger-cooking robot, and hire 400 more entry-level employees to assist them.
But those inhuman burgerbots could still replace tens of thousands of fast-food employees. “I’m sorry Hal, I can’t cook that.”