Automated harvesting technology is rapidly transforming the agricultural sector. Recent developments in soft-robotics allow machines to delicate-pick berries and stone fruits without bruising them. According to industry reports: ‘Robotic pickers can work continuously through the night, reducing dependency on seasonal labour and lowering operational costs.’
Using the extract and your economic knowledge, explain how the increasing use of automated harvesting technology is likely to affect the market for seasonal agricultural workers.
64 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Economics 1.6 The labour market (A-level only), covering 1.6.1 The demand for labour, marginal productivity theory, 1.6.2 Influences upon the supply of labour to different markets, 1.6.3 The determination of relative wage rates and levels of employment in perfectly competitive labour markets, 1.6.4 The determination of relative wage rates and levels of employment in imperfectly competitive labour markets, 1.6.5 The Influence of trade unions in determining wages and levels of employment, 1.6.6 The National Minimum Wage, and 1.6.7 Discrimination in the labour market. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.