There are still millions of jobs in agriculture and construction, but they are now poorly paid because they are performed by people who aren't protected by employment laws and have no negotiating power.

The only change that needs to be made is forcing agriculture and construction companies to obey the law.

(I gave you a net 0, upvoting your comment and downvoting your complaining)

I'm going to need a source on that. Here's mine: http://protecttheharvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/numb...

What do you think "productivity gains" means? It doesn't mean we need to hire more workers.

But that graph is relatively flat since 1970, and I seriously doubt they were able to count all the jobs now being performed without documentation and not reported to the government.

I could imagine that illegal immigrants are also a much easier workforce to manage. They won't be forming unions and going to strikes; if you want to terminate the employment, they won't go to a lawyer and sue you. They're humble, they're flexible.

(I don't know that job market so well and I don't even live in the US, but this is the perception I get from the system.)

Small scale production might be better for connecting and jobs and whatnot, but that can't compete price wise. Our small farm isn't exactly a huge money maker as it is.

Modern farming is hardly just grunt work, a farmer has to be familiar with the land and the processes involved. It's actually a bit more technical than many may realize. And the salaries for farming reflect that; it is a pretty decently paid profession. People with this skillset won't go away. You just don't need many of these people per acre.

There is such a thing as labor-intensive crops, of course. But I speculate that any replacement for low-paid "illegal immigrant" grunt work would end up being automation in the end.