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time an employee is cut the business must find a way to compensate. For example, your grocer may decide to put only one bagger for every two lanes. With the bagger going back and forth, and the checkers helping with the bagging, they now have three employees doing the work of four. Others may decide to jack up the price of groceries and leave the service the same.

What is happening more and more is that businesses have figured out how to mechanize the job. Basically they are having either a robot or the customer themselves provide the service. The prime examples of this are self checkouts. With one employee manning four checkout stations, you basically have cut eight jobs down to one. The customer checks and bags with the help of and automated device.

Another great solution is vending machines and internet sales. New business models in the movie rental business have replaced thousands of video rental clerk positions. You only need to look at the business models of RedBox or NetFlix, and compare them to the traditional Blockbuster rental store to see the ways that employers are cutting their employee load and in order to maintain, or increase the value of the product.

Another solution that is being used a lot by larger companies is to export the jobs overseas to countries who are not as strict with their labor laws. This will fire up a whole new debate, but put simply, if it costs less to get the work done elsewhere, companies will consider it. They may hold to the idea that they want to support their country and its workers, but if the decision comes down to going out of business or shipping a few jobs over seas, more and more will choose to stay open and competitive.

Finally, many businesses will turn to independent contractors rather than employees. Basically these are paid per job services rather than paid per hour jobs. A simple example is that someone may say, I will give you $20 to rake my yard. The contractor can then decide if he can rake the yard fast enough to be worth $20. If he can't, he can either renegotiate, or leave the job for someone who feel it is worth that amount. Many sales businesses have already gone to this system where independent contractors are paid by the work or sales that they produce rather than by how long it takes to produce them.

So what does this all mean? By forcing our business to be more efficient to remain competitive we will see some changes in the types and numbers of jobs we have, but we may also become more efficient as a nation. Unskilled workers will be replaced, people in general will have to work more efficiently to earn their keep either as business owners or independent contractors.

If you followed this loop of logic you will see that what we have done, by taking the free market our of the job market, we have not stifled the free market, but we have forced businesses to change their business model to reintroduce the free market to their labor force, or find a way around the increase. Either way it is a stress that causes businesses to become more efficient. The labor market will struggle temporarily until laborers figure out how to work in the new system, but the free market will prevail, at least until the government steps in again. Just remember, there will be less and less mindless jobs where you just show up and collect a paycheck. If your pay goes up, you are going to have to work for it.

Learn more about this author, John Cane.
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