Write about the topic below for 5 minutes
Some people think companies should be free to replace workers with automation whenever it saves money. Others think companies have a responsibility to protect jobs. Which do you agree with?
A follow-up question based on your answer will appear here.
Useful Expressions
Show Model Answer · Step 1
I agree that companies have a responsibility to think about their workers before replacing them with automation. A company depends on the community that supports it, and cutting jobs quickly can hurt that community badly.
Automation can still bring real benefits, such as lower prices and safer working conditions. Companies do not need to reject it completely, but they should introduce it gradually and offer retraining to employees whose roles change.
A company that automates responsibly protects both its profits and its workers. One that automates only for short term savings often damages its reputation and loses public trust in the long run.
Show Model Answer · Step 2
I understand that argument, but new jobs created by automation often require different skills than the jobs that were lost, and not every worker can make that switch easily. A factory worker replaced by a machine is not automatically qualified for a new technology role.
Even if the total number of jobs stays the same or grows, individual workers can still suffer if there is no support to help them transition. The benefit to the wider economy does not erase the cost to the specific people who lost their jobs.
Companies and governments both have a role here, offering training programs so that new jobs are actually reachable for displaced workers, not just theoretically available somewhere else.