Technical Change and Employment in an Emerging Economy

Humberto Merritt

Technical change has traditionally had a strong influence on the economy. In particular, the quick advance of information technologies (IT) has sparked drastic changes in almost every productive activity, with skilled jobs being dramatically affected by these changes. Although most white collar jobs were apparently immune to change up until very recently, now routine-based jobs are vanishing and the remaining clerical jobs being forced to adapt. In this paper, we examine the impact of IT on skilled jobs in Mexico. In so doing, we ask to what extent is technological change affecting skilled jobs? Drawing on a historical research on the weekly evolution of hiring offers for six posts in a Mexico City’s newspaper, we were able to identify how traditional jobs have been petering out as more sophisticated work positions have been coming along. Yet, traditional manufacturing jobs seem to endure as demand from productive firms remains strong in spite of the continuing diffusion of IT. We conclude that modern jobs are no longer defined by traditional skills but by multitask abilities, especially in the service sector.

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