The Sample of the Turkish Labor Market in Digital Discrimination and Pandemic Regarding Elderly/Older Employment

Introduction

Technological development in the world has progressed more rapidly in the last two centuries than in the previous tens of thousands of years. While this progress sometimes increased arithmetically, it sometimes turned into geometric progression. In general, geometric advances took place between just before and just after the industrialization phase, which was divided into four phases. The use of steam power in Industry 1.0, the conversion to electrical energy in Industry 2.0, IT in Industry 3.0, the internet of things and artificial intelligence in Industry 4.0 can be given as examples. Sometimes a transformation to the second geometric development was encountered within the industrial stages. Fordism in Industry 2.0 can be given as an example. Although it is not preferred to be called a new industry stage because it is based on business organization, it constituted one of the most important developments that left its mark in the last two and a half centuries. Although there were negative opinions, the Japaneseization, or commonly known as lean manufacturing, which was shown in Post-Fordism in the Industry 3.0 process, also pointed to the geometric development based on work organization. Industry 4.0, which was launched in 2011, is considered to be at the very beginning of its phases. However, its global spread was far from catching up with the geometric acceleration in technological progress. Without any hint, it is ironic that the pandemic that the world has been dragged into since March 11, 2020 has accelerated the global spread of Industry 4.0 more than before. It can be said that the world is now in Industry 4.0. In a few years, a modest number of resisting parts of the world are likely to surrender as well.

Despite four industry stages, two and a half different production structures seem to be memorable. The first and probably the most important one is Fordism. Even if all other features are set aside, it has transformed the human being from a thinking creature into an assembly line limb by transforming it into a robot. Just like after the oil crisis in Germany, the foreign workers who were at the forefront in the strikes were suddenly stopped from being admitted into the country, large masses of workers who are organized by saying no to robotization are told that they are not needed in the digitalized world anymore. Instead of the Antiquity, which has been producing based on slave labor for thousands of years, a transformation awaits the world as it prefers to hire a semi-slave, semi-free peasant, whose function is called serf, instead of bearing the cost of keeping slaves. This is such a transformation that everyone is at risk. Did anyone say it's good to be a slave? Was there anyone who said it is good to be a slave? If a serf were asked, would he rather be a slave or a serf? The variability of the answer becomes even more profound when it is considered that in the Athenian Civilization, the masters did not make their workers work even if they were starving while they dote on their slaves. Did the doctor of poor people practice put out in vain in Athens 2500 years ago? Consider the crowded and poor but free Athenian society, which is deprived of even having its disease cured. You know, it was the only place in the world where direct democracy was practiced. Maybe this is not the case right now, but we are on the verge of it. The world is advancing rapidly towards the situation where being unemployed will become a privilege. Being unemployed requires a willingness to find a job and the state of looking for a job. What will happen when a significant portion of humanity will be pushed out of the labor market? There won’t even be unemployed workers. Maybe even unemployment will be missed. In this situation, the elderly employment constitutes the first and most risky segment among the large masses that will not even be unemployed.