Helping the people innovation leaves behind: the potential benefits of entrepreneurship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the human costs of innovation – the personal difficulties, aside from economic ones, experienced by persons whose jobs are permanently eliminated by innovations.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual analysis of the negative personal effects (i.e. intra-individual) resulting from job loss due to innovation was used. These include reduced self-esteem, hope for the future, increased stress and increased and disturbing cognitive inconsistencies.FindingsProposals are developed concerning the harmful effects experienced by whose jobs are made unnecessary by innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper, being conceptual, does not involve empirical research; rather it offers suggestions for future research.Practical implicationsAttention is called to the potential “downside” of innovation in terms of the persons whose jobs it renders superfluous. Reasons why entrepreneurship may be especially attractive to these persons are reviewed.Social implicationsInnovation generates many economic benefits but also makes many jobs unnecessary. As a resut, a growing number of persons lose jobs they can never hope to regain. These personal costs adversely affect both their psychological and physical well-being. Further, job loss due to innovation can add to income inequality and so be a source of conflict in society. Efforts to reduce these problems are essential for the continued well-being of both individuals and the societies in which they live.Originality/valuePast research concerning innovation has focused primarily on its economic effects. This paper extends this research by examining innovations' potentially harmful effects on persons it makes unemployed.