Is your job safe?

I read a news story about jobs that won’t be around in 20 years because of robots. According to the article, some of the least safe jobs include telemarketers with a 99% chance of automation, followed by loan officers with a 98% and cashiers with a 97% chance of being automated.

Well, come to think of it, the supermarket in my neighborhood has installed self-checkouts. Interestingly, when they first appeared about a year ago, it seemed people hated them. Today, they are as busy as human cashiers.

Personally, I prefer self-checkouts for several reasons. For one, they’re faster and easier than waiting in a queue, once you know how to use them. Another good thing about them is that you don’t have to depend on the performance of human workers.

Well. Do you think your job is safe or endangered?

Now. Would you like to try a quiz? You’ll be given three options. So, choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?
(1) Telemarketers are hard to be automated.
(2) Cashiers are very likely to survive the next 20 years.
(3) Some jobs are already being replaced by robots.

(3) Some jobs are already being replaced by robots.

あなたの仕事はだいじょうぶ？

最近、ある記事を読みました。ロボットのせいで 20 年後には存在しないかもしれない仕事に関するお話です。この記事によると、消滅の危険がもっともありそうな職業はコールセンターのテレフォンオペレータで、自動化の確率は 99 パーセント。銀行の融資担当者とスーパーなどのレジ係がこれに続き、自動化される確率はそれぞれ 98 と 97 パーセントだそうです。

そういえば。近所のスーパーマーケットでもセルフレジが導入されました。興味深いことに、1年ほど前の導入当初は甚だしく不人気のようでした。それが今では人間のレジ係と同じくらい多忙なのです。

私は個人的には、いくつかの理由からセルフレジを選びます。ひとつには、一度覚えてしまえばレジの列に並ぶよりよほどスピーディで簡単だからです。もうひとつ良い点を挙げるとすれば、人間の能力の違いによる当たり外れがないところでしょうか。

さて。皆さんのお仕事はだいじょうぶ? それとも絶滅の危機に瀕してる?

NOTE: The original story was first published in June 2018.