Letters to the Editor – 11/02 – White-collar jobs, Best of Twitter
White-collar jobs
[Re: Will the spread of automation mean the end of the white-collar worker?, yesterday]
Automation is already a reality in financial services. Banks have automated risks systems in place, and vast amounts of money is generated from electronic and algorithmic trading. But the complete replacement of white-collar specialist roles with robots and machines is simply not feasible. The industry employs hundreds of thousands of staff all over the world, and there are layers of corporate hierarchy needed to manage, coach, develop and mentor. This simply cannot be done by a machine. Traditional banking and broking services are conducted through verbal communication, with technology used as a tool to aid communication – not a replacement. There is no price on the value of human interaction. You can’t email a handshake or a smile – face to face business meetings still lead the way, and this will never change.
Hakan Enver, Morgan McKinley Financial Services
[Re: Nasty, brutish, short: Why businesses prosper then die at an ever faster pace, yesterday]
This acceleration of creative destruction is to be celebrated. Greater corporate churn can mean less rent-seeking and a more efficient capitalism.
George Wallace
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