In the wave of science and technology in the 21st century, the Internet has had a profound impact on the global real economy with its strong penetration and transformative power. In the United States and China, two global economic powers, the development trajectory and impact of the Internet have presented their own characteristics and challenges.
In the United States, the development of the Internet is widely considered to have had a major impact on the physical industry. With the rise of e-commerce and the acceleration of digitalization, many traditional brick-and-mortar industries have been severely tested. On the one hand, the change of consumer shopping habits has reduced the demand for physical stores, especially in the retail, book and ** industries, and the rise of online shopping platforms such as Amazon and other giants has squeezed the living space of physical stores. On the other hand, the manufacturing industry has also undergone large-scale structural adjustment under the trend of automation and intelligence, and some low-skilled jobs have been replaced by robots and artificial intelligence.
However, the U.S. human resources market is also polarized. On the one hand, a small number of elite talents have successfully entered Wall Street and other high-paying industries with their professional knowledge and skills in the fields of finance, technology and innovation, and enjoy the rich rewards brought by the Internet economy. On the other hand, the majority of the labor force is facing the problems of employment instability and widening income disparities. In particular, those jobs that once relied on the real industry, such as those in the manufacturing and retail industries, are often left with low-paying or unstable jobs under the impact of the Internet, and even fall into poverty such as "zero-dollar purchases".
At the same time, in China, the impact of the Internet is manifested in the huge impact of online shopping on physical stores. With the rise of e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com, Chinese consumers are increasingly inclined to shop, which undoubtedly poses a serious challenge to the physical retail industry. Many small and medium-sized brick-and-mortar stores have been forced to close or transform because they can't compete with the advantages and convenience of e-commerce.
However, China's HR market has undergone a similar polarization process. Driven by the Internet economy, a small number of people have quickly accumulated wealth through online live broadcasts and e-commerce sales, and have become wealthy in the new era. But at the same time, the vast majority of labor has poured into the express delivery and logistics industries, becoming the basic force supporting the e-commerce empire. In a high-intensity working environment, these couriers often face problems such as low wages, long working hours, and occupational safety.
The development of the Internet has brought profound changes to the real economy and human resource markets in both China and the United States. While these changes have brought new opportunities and challenges, they have also exposed inequalities in the social structure and instability in the job market. Therefore, how to ensure the inclusiveness and sustainability of economic development while embracing the Internet will be an important issue in future policy formulation and social governance.