Endangered Jobs: A Look at the Jobs on the Brink of Extinction
Technological advancements continue to amaze us. Just this week, Google announced that it has developed a “hum the song” search feature for those music lovers who end up easily forgetting song titles. While this isn’t life-changing (unless you are a “Name That Tune” contest fanatic), it shows how technology is continuously evolving to become a part of our daily lives even more.
With this in mind, it won’t be long when we will bow to technological creations that have also become ingrained in how we do our jobs. Let’s take a quick look at those jobs which we’ll see fade away due to technological advancements.
Cashiers
If you’re the one doing the groceries for your household and you go to supermarket chains, you’ve probably noticed that there have been more and more self-checkout kiosks over the last few months. These self-checkout kiosks have been designed to be extremely user-friendly and even allows you to pay not just with your credit card or debit card, but cash as well. This means that in a few years’ time, we might not see a live cashier at all in these supermarket chains. However, people and employees are still needed to help operate these self-serve stations, so there is still some time before the complete wipe-out of a cashier/customer service person.
Travel agents
While the travel industry has taken a huge hit due to the pandemic, the need for travel agencies was already diminishing long before COVID struck. And it’s easy to see why. Because most people rely on their mobile devices now for everything, they are their OWN travel agents for their trips, be it an out of town or out of the country. They can book their own plane tickets since most airlines allow tickets to be booked online and they can schedule their own hotel stay since most hotels allow online reservations.
Bank tellers
There have been a number of branches shutting down way before COVID hit, and the reason is obvious: most people do online banking these days where they save time and effort compared to when they go to the physical location of their respective banks, where they often face the likelihood of standing in line for a good fifteen to thirty minutes. With all big banks now offering mobile banking, all that it takes now is a few clicks to pay a bill or transfer money. Some banks even offer an online cheque deposit via a scanning feature.
Cab dispatchers
In these days where convenience and safety are priorities, people go for easy ways to commute while avoiding public transit like subways and buses. It used to be a matter of hailing cabs before, but now it’s all a matter of a few clicks and voila, your ride is instantly in front of you. The Uber and Lyft apps even allows you real-time tracking of your ride, so you can decide whether to make a coffee run or not while waiting.
Telemarketers
There will be a time when we’ll look at each other and ask ourselves, “What are telemarketers again?” But yes, during that time when landline phones were a must in every household, you likely got a call during dinnertime from a telemarketer telling you how to save on your heating and cooling expenses. The success rate of landing sales through telemarketing have always left a lot to be desired, but even more so these days of digital marketing. In due time, we would not have to ask to be put on the Do Not Call list anymore.
These are merely a few of the jobs that will likely disappear in a few years’ time, but the list continues to grow. As long as technological advancements are here to stay, these jobs will be on the brink of being obsolete. They might always be around, but the job postings will be few and far in between.
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