I had to pay a visit to my local bank branch recently, a chore that in the last decade or so for many of us has become a much less frequent occurrence. The combination of paycheck direct deposit, ubiquitous and networked ATM access, and more recently the emergence of sophisticated and user-friendly web and mobile banking apps to handle bill payments, transfers, and even deposits, (just upload a picture of that $10 Birthday check from Grandma and you are good to go), have made the once common trip down to the local back one that is rarely, if ever, necessary.
But despite my billing here at FOT as the technology geek, I still have a bit of a Luddite streak about some things, and I found myself in the local bank branch to conduct some simple and routine transactions, the nature of which, had I been so inclined, I could have completed with some combination of my bank’s web and mobile service offerings. As the friendly teller processed my transactions we had a short conversation that went more or less like this:
Teller: ‘Good morning sir! That is sort of an interesting outfit you decided to wear out in public today! (Ok, she didn't really say that, but I bet she must have been thinking it.)
Me: Hello – I have this deposit for you and I also need to order some new checks and since I am here, can I please have $80 in cash – one $50, one $20, a $10 and two $5s? (don’t judge, I like a nice assortment).
Teller: No problem, I can take care of that for you. (she begins typing, scanning, etc.)
Teller: By the way, have you signed up for our Web Banking service? It’s free and you can do (begins to list all the features available to banking customers via the web).
Me: Yes, I have and I use it all the time.
Teller: And you can also download our mobile app for iPhone or Android – with that you could have just taken a picture of that check you deposited and then it is automatically credited to your account.
Me: That’s pretty neat, I have not tried that yet, but I will check it out.
Teller: You should really give it a try. With our web banking, the new
App, and our expanded network of ATMs, you really should almost never have to come into the bank anymore.
Me: Good point. (This next part I just thought), But if I never came in, what would happen to your job?
Technology continues to advance relentlessly, and in that march forward, it pressures companies in all kinds of industries – manufacturing, distribution, and even information services businesses like banking, to adopt new systems, better machines and web and mobile-based tools to cut costs, streamlines processes, reduce errors – you get the idea.
A quick look at some of the macro-trends in the US helps to see how these trends play out on a grand scale – Corporate profits are high, productivity continues to grow, but wages are stagnant, and labor force participation is declining.
Organizations continue to find ways to do more with less people, or at least less people costs.
Granted, that conclusion is not really novel or perhaps even interesting at this point, but what was interesting to me about the trip to the bank was in the way the Teller, in her friendly, confident, and definitely sincere manner, was advocating for her eventual obsolescence.
By encouraging me to utilize the very same tools that will replace her, she essentially guarantees she will be supplanted by that cool new App the Bank Manager probably instructed her to mention.
And I suppose the thought of that (potential), conversation, of Management directing front-line staff to educate and encourage customers to use the new technologies that while certainly providing value, convenience, and 24/7 access; will also, certainly, lead to at least some of them needing to find a new livelihood, is what I found a little bit unnerving.
Did the teller realize that is what she was being asked to do? If so, would she have pushed back? If you were in charge of the bank would you or could you in good conscience have your employees lobby for their own redundancy?
The robots are coming to eventually take all of our jobs, this much is clear.
I just hoped we would not have to talk about how fantastic they are during the transition.
I’ve had similar thoughts about at times. All (most) transactional jobs will eventually be replaced with technology. A teller is a transactional job. So are grocery store clerks (self-service checkout line), gas pumpers (in my state at least, they’re gone), meter readers (reported wirelessly), movie ticket sellers (online or vending kiosk), etc. But there still needs to be someone to design and build that technology, troubleshoot it, repair it, manage those people, You could choose to say this is bad. I choose to say it frees people up to pursue a more rewarding, challenging job. And yep, it will require some schooling to be prepared. And even schooling in some ways is becoming more transactional, at least in the delivery and accessibility (online), which in turn opens it up to more people to take advantage of.
I agree.I have never met anyone who planned to be a bank teller their whole life. it’s a starting point for more rewarding and challenging positions within banking. So perhaps what’s happening is that the “entry level’ bar is being raised; I would be concerned about how we are getting people from high school into that next level of employment without the interim positions that used to require minimal skills and knowledge to start but then taught basic employment skills that people could build on to get to the next level (showing up every day on time ready to work with a professional appearance and demeanor — even if that job were pumping gas, delivering pizza or newspapers, or…bank teller).
I think this teller will be out of a job soon anyway as your 50, 20, 10 and two fives total $90 and you were only withdrawing $80.
How does scanning a picture of your check work? How many time can you do this to the one check?
Graeme…I’m a numbers gal and still did Steve’s “simple word problem” twice. Got a chuckle when I finally figured out I hadn’t lost my mind.
I agree with Laurel. Young professionals need to learn valuable skills and these entry-level jobs are where to do that. On the flip side, if more high schools (and some colleges) prepared students for opportunities in the areas of product research and development we wouldn’t find the need to fear the demise of transactional jobs. I believe research and development will soon be the new entry-level as many times fresh minds come up with excellent products and services.
BTW, I loathe self-check-out! I’d pay more for my groceries just to not have to bag them myself.
Thanks for the comments all – as for the math error, what I am going with is that I made the bills add up incorrectly to see if anyone was reading closely enough to catch it
I think the comments help to illuminate what is a complex, and sometimes troubling reality – that technology continues to disrupt commerce such that some, if not many are finding themselves on the outside looking in, as their skills, abilities, and educational background might not have kept up, or perhaps more likely, failed to anticipate these changes and their pace.
While I understand the position that many of these kinds of jobs like bank teller don’t seem to be lifelong career choice to many of us, I will bet there are plenty of tellers who are happy to have them (and keep them), and don’t see them as stepping stones leading somewhere else. There are lots of reasons for that, I imagine, but I have the sense that for many of them, if the job goes away it just seems like one more door closing.
I appreciate the comments, I am interested in the discussion, and hope to continue to write/talk about it in the days ahead.