Three new categories of jobs

The three new categories to replace white and blue-collar workers are the routine production workers, in-person service workers, and symbolic analysts. Blue collar workers are the labor workers with more physical, unskilled jobs. The white collar workers usually work in offices and work more with data than with physical items. This division represented the way the work world used to be. Now, the categories have been divided into three. The routine production workers are people who can work with either data or physical goods, including data processors and factory workers. These people most likely do not make as much money as the symbolic analysts. These people work with data and ideas, like software engineers and management consultants. The final category is the in-person service workers, such as taxi-drivers and janitors. These people work directly with people, but they work jobs "lower" in society and don't make as much money as other people.

This plays a lot into the digital divide because the people without the technological know-how and the access to computers will most likely be working jobs that don't require the use of them. Taxi drivers and janitors for example do not use modern technology in their jobs, so people on the wrong side of the digital divide will take these jobs. Unfortunately, these jobs are among the lowest paying, which further contributes to the digital divide and prevents these people from crossing it. However, people who have the knowledge and the access to computers, will probably fill jobs like software engineer or management consultants, where computer technology is used on a daily basis. These jobs are high paying, so in addition to their prior access, they now have more money to keep up with the latest technology and stay on the right side of the digital divide.

This also ties in to our discussion of racial ravines and inequality. Statistically speaking, racial minority communities, especially African American and Hispanic communities, have lower incomes than Caucasian communities. This means that Caucasians are more likely to be on the side of the digital divide where they have access to computers, technology and ultimately high paying jobs. However, minorities on average have less access to these technologies and jobs, so they get stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. The side of the digital divide people end up on has a large part in what job they will most likely end up in. Clearly then, there is an issue of equality since people of certain ethnic backgrounds are unable to get equally paying jobs as their White counterparts. Of course, all of this is an over generalization, as minorities are able to get high paying jobs, however, it may be more difficult for them to cross the digital divide.