My first real job lasted 25 years, which was 5 more than I needed to retire. I retired in 2003. The job I have now is also one of those that come with a pension plan. Another six years, and I can retire from this one too. In between these two jobs, I did the self-employment thing, but I must admit that I did not like it. Being self-employed is a 24/7 thing. It was good money, but I did not enjoy it.Technology and automation has affected many jobs over the years here in the U.S. as well. It is one of the hazards of working for a larger company these days. Gone are the days when one might expect to retire from a job after 30-40 years. There are some of these jobs, but most employees and employers are just not that loyal anymore.
As for automation, yup. We are already in a position where we can eliminate the human interface in many cases, we just elect not do. There is no need or cashiers, waiters, librarians (sorry Lanolin) or many other positions. The problem is that there would be no place for this type of labor force, so we keep them. There is probably also no need for news papers or physical schools. Soon, no need for bus drivers, taxi cap drivers, etc.
The only problem with going fully automated is that things sometimes go wrong and you really need a human to interface with a human.
I recall my college accounting class where the professor went through the mechanical process of balancing the books. He was one odd man. He liked to drink Sun Kiss sodas, but liked it at room temperature. He always purchased a can and kept it in his pant's pocket until it was at room temperature. Anyway, I recalled asking him why we went through all that cumbersome process, when we have software to do this. His reply was that we might not always have computers/software. My reply was that is this was the case, we would probably have no need to worry about balancing books. I got a in the class
Rtm