People feel trapped on a treadmill from which there is no escape. Yet, at the same time, workers are working longer and harder for less, the amount they are able to produce in an hour's labor is greater than ever before, and this productivity of labor continues to climb. What these facts indicate is that it is possible to have a secure and comfortable standard of living while working far fewer hours than we do now. But under the profit system, the workers do not get the benefit of their effort. The owners of business do.
Corporations introduce technology to reduce the labor needed to their product or service.
But rather than spread the saving to all their employees by having everyone work less for the same pay, they lay off a number of workers in order to pay less in total wages and thereby increase profits. By lowering the amount of labor needed to make a commodity, they can sell it for less and hold onto market share a gainst the competition, who are also driving down costs by displacing labor. But if they would continue to employ the same number of workers and pay the same total wages, the lower prices would mean lower profits or no profits. So it's the workers who m ust be sacrificed to keep the company afloat. But in addition to layoffs, labor costs and can be cut by having the remaining workers work longer and harder.