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White-collar workers are not going to disappear totally from the Southern Alleghenies region, nor probably from anywhere else in "Business America."
But evidence continues to mount that white-collar jobs across this country are going to decrease markedly over the next several years, perhaps decades, and the long-held security of white-collar job status might already be a relic of the past in much more than a few places.
How white-collar status in the Southern Alleghenies is holding up amid evolving new pressures has gotten little, if any, serious noticeable discussion, but perhaps it is time for such dialogue to begin in earnest.
That is because, increasingly, the availability of stable, good-paying -- indeed, white-collar -- jobs is going to impact high schoolers' job aspirations and higher-education decisions -- whether to plan for a career here or a future somewhere far beyond.
College economics textbooks have long taught the reality of peaks and valleys, but on the white-collar jobs front the current valley seems only to be getting deeper.
Indeed, it is time to publicly determine and divulge how this region is being impacted by this seemingly tumultuous change that has been increasingly grabbing business-page headlines in the nation's largest markets.
It is reasonable to conclude, even at this early stage of the evolution process, that the Southern Alleghenies won't escape outcomes others are experiencing.
The major question is how broadly that impact will be felt here.
In its edition of last Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal began by noting that "for generations of Americans, a corporate job was a path to stable prosperity.
"No more" was the article's chief point.
The Journal pointed out "companies are rethinking the value of many white-collar roles, in what some experts anticipate will be a permanent shift in labor demand that will disrupt the work life of millions of Americans whose jobs will be lost, diminished or revamped partly through the use of artificial intelligence. "Long after robots began taking manufacturing jobs," the Journal continued, "artificial intelligence is now coming for the higher-ups."
According to an analysis from the nonpartisan research group Employ America, for the year ended in March, the number of unemployed white-collar workers rose by approximately 150,000. At the same time, companies appear more focused on keeping blue-collar employees such as warehouse workers and drivers who continue to be in short supply.
The U.S. Labor Department projects that of the 20 occupations that will create the most jobs through 2031, about 66% will be blue-collar jobs paying about $32,000 a year.
Over the past 40 years, the number of individuals in management and professional occupations positions increased nearly 150%, the Labor Department reported. By comparison, service occupations have risen 72% since 1983.
"As companies look to cut costs, some employers have said middle managers will have to give up their teams and return to being just another worker," the Journal said.
That will be traumatic for many of those who will be affected, especially for those who have compiled superior managerial work records. Their pain will be understandable.
Close to home, how many individuals will be among the grieving? How many will leave to pursue new horizons, forced to deprive this region of their talents?
Maybe we will never know.