I think your point is good but I think there’s also a case to be made that some portion of workers become “outmoded” even without being replaced by machines. There is a natural level of unemployment, which for some may be cyclical but for others may be permanent, because when unemployment dips below that level, wages go up and employers are incentivized to invest in productivity increases instead of employing more people. It’s also worth noting that there are a lot of costs associated with being employable (home, travel, food, grooming), and if one falls below a certain level of solvency, it’s almost impossible to pull out of without some kind of assistance. Being mobile enough (both local transport and flexibility in living situation) to take a job where there is a job is high cost in itself. I short, the labor market is not responsive enough to shifts in the economy to ever really be able to provide a job for everyone when they want it.
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