Affirmative Action: Re-visite- Working in New Times

It is important to illustrate how the making of new technologies creates new areas to focus on within affirmative action policy.  The making of technologies has the potential to take advantage of those without other career choices as new jobs obliterate older ones.  For example, in Sunday's Austin American Statesmen, the front-page headline read:  After delay, Austin goes all out to lure AMD chip plant.  The story was covered by Kirk Landendorf, who wrote, $3 billion factory would bring hundreds of jobs, help city keep cutting edge status.(Statesmen, 1). He later says on page nine that, Austin also has a base of experienced chip factory workers and supervisors. On the surface, Austin appears to be a thriving city and a hot spot for high technology companies, but on the downside the workers run the risk of being exploited. More than likely minorities which are already living and working on the outskirts of the city will become the main employees at these plants.  The workers that make chips are not afforded the same type of opportunities granted to those in other fields.  Sadly, because they have no choice and narrow skill sets they will be encouraged to apply and work for a manufacturing giant like AMD.  The fact that most of the existing chip factories are in east Austin that is predominately black and Hispanic may be an indicator of the types of chip factory workers they refer to in the article.  There is a danger that these workers will have no other choices of employment in the future as we are immersed technologically.  If policies are not adopted, and city planners are not careful we could have slave labor going on in the same city where people are getting rich off of sector growth.  The factory is a place to make sure those who actually build new technologies like chips are protected and can benefit from their work in our new information society.

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