Engineers , etc are likely to be paid well so they will work for the moguls . The highly specialized workers , whose work is not automateable for now , will be treated in the same way . What will probably happen is a closed system , in which these workers send their kids or relatives to be trained by someone who will be in the elites ' payroll . There are port workers who are skilled on unloading stuff from ships . They are paid maybe $ 150 kyr . Their jobs are passed from father to sonssoninlawsnephews . They are , for all practical purposes , guilds but port authorities are afraid to break them . Similar things will happen . Bribing these group , less than a few thousand strong , won ' t be too hard . Universities can be downsized . Right now they have too many people teaching humanities and indoctrination stuff . It will probably be reformed into something similar to polytechiques , which do not teach anything other than technical stuff . Highspecialized engineers also have to eat . They will work for much less rather than starve . Also , the ' alternative energy ' stuff will be enough to power the electric equipment of the winners , who may not choose to use oil after all . With more than half of the world ' s pop gone , resources are more than sufficient to fuel a downsized but more efficient civilization .