No. of Recommendations: 16
Automating drafting didn't ... even put draughtsmen out of business.
...
Estimated Peak Numbers: In the early 1980s, before CAD gained mass-market dominance, there were an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 drafters in the U.S. across all disciplines (mechanical, electrical, architectural, and civil). The number now is about 110,000. So it looks like it put about 200,000 to 300,000 draughtsmen, 67% to 75% of existing draughtsmen, out of business after all.
Fair enough, though it depends on who you count and what their skill level is.
If you count the number of people who are now draughtsmen half the time (about a million seats are paying ongoing Autocad licenses, for example) as 1/2 person each, the number has presumably risen. Often it's more like job diffusion than job elimination. Maybe even in areas that seem more clear cut: Microsoft Word and friends eliminated a lot of "typists", but the amount of time spent on "typist" activities has risen. Instead of (say) 5% of workers doing it all the time, maybe 70% of workers do it 10% of the time.
Jim
