I think we can see some trends that will continue into the future:
1) unskilled labor is less and less popular to do (hence the importation of unskilled laborers, and at least partially because of welfare no one really needs to work),
2) there are fewer and fewer jobs that one can go into right out of high school and make a living at. Auto factories, coal mines, steel mill, etc. You've now got to have some additional training and possibly certification, licensure. And, that also means you have to commit to take a certain path. Goes against the whole "follow your dreams" culture.
3) we see a large, very large percentage of the population now jobless and many of whom will continue to be jobless.
First, Unless one compares employment figures against historical data, present observations are meaningless in terms of the net effect of automation. Second, lifespans have increased dramatically but retirement is still in the mid 60s in the US (and lower in some European countries), so unless one filters out those who aren't working because they're retired - a number of people that is much larger than at any time in history - the number of unemployed is a false measure of those who cannot find work. Third, welfare benefits are significant enough that at any given moment there is a significant number of people who could be working, but aren't because they don't have to. Without controlling for those two factors the unemployment figures are meaningless.
Finally, it is much, much more likely that government regulation has put more people out of work than any amount of automation.
Automation is a short term disruptor, but a long term benefit. Anyone who thinks otherwise should contemplate going back to the labor intensive, unautomated days of subsistence farming. Automation in farming has been a massive boon to the economy and we don't have millions of permanently unemployed youth who, but for that automation, would be gainfully employed reaping wheat or cotton by hand.
