When ATMs were introduced to banks in the 1980s, people thought bank tellers would quickly stop existing. Over time, each bank branch did end up employing fewer tellers. However, ATMs made it cheaper to operate bank branches, so more bank branches opened and there were eventually more bank teller jobs over all.
This comforting trend ended several years ago.
Here's a blog that plots teller employment numbers up through 2015:
Teller employment peaked in 2007 at over 600,000. It's down to 472,000 as of 2018 and projected to decline another 12% by 2028.
You need to keep following the numbers to distinguish "the prediction of technological unemployment was premature" from "the idea of technological unemployment is mistaken."
This comforting trend ended several years ago.
Here's a blog that plots teller employment numbers up through 2015:
https://greatdisruption2018.com/the-project/the-parable-of-t...
Here's the BLS data and outlook for the future:
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/te...
Teller employment peaked in 2007 at over 600,000. It's down to 472,000 as of 2018 and projected to decline another 12% by 2028.
You need to keep following the numbers to distinguish "the prediction of technological unemployment was premature" from "the idea of technological unemployment is mistaken."