This assumes that people are currently being used to maximum effect. Most products and services are not so perfect that they couldn’t be improved in some obvious way.<p>The shortage I see is in the number of organizations willing to pay for extra people right now, regardless of job threats. (And by extension, the number of customers willing to pay <i>much</i> more, to ensure that companies can <i>easily</i> afford more workers.)<p>Imagine what companies could do <i>RIGHT NOW</i> to improve society, if only they were willing:<p>— Make things faster (e.g. serve lunch in less time; make people wait less for “representatives” on the phone; etc.).<p>— Make things higher quality (e.g. more testers; more “polish” in products; more customization options).<p>— Make work suck less (it is hard to imagine overloading people with 80-hour work weeks if the company employs more workers).