Jobs that have been replaced by technology

From giant corporations to university libraries to start-up businesses, employers are using rapidly improving technology to do tasks that humans used to do. That means millions of workers are caught in a competition they can’t win against machines that keep getting more powerful, cheaper and easier to use.Take a look at some of the jobs that have been replaced by technology.

Left: Mail carrier Mike Gillis delivered mail in 2011, in Montpelier, Vt. Right: Microsoft Outlook being demonstrated on a desktop computer in 2013, in New York. The number of “mail carriers” in the U.S. fell 10 percent from 358,000 to 321,000 in ten years through 2010.

Left: Tori Stinson at Meadowbrook Insurance Company checked a client’s paperwork in 2004 in Southfield, Mich.Right: The TurboTax online tax computer program is displayed on a computer in Palo Alto, Calif., in 2008. The number of bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks fell from 1.7 million to 1.3 million in the U.S in ten years through 2010.

Left: An information technology room in 2001, in Hurst, Texas.Right: A SAP server room in 2012, in Walldorf, Germany. SAP allows companies to use cloud computing to track sales and inventory without needing to hire IT employees.

Left: A train conductor in 2011, in New Brunswick, N.J.Right: Tokyo’s Yurikamome Line that runs without any drivers or conductors along Tokyo Bay, in 2013. Katsuya Hagane, the manager in charge of operations at New Transit Yurikamome, with just 60 regular employees, says the automated system helps keeps hiring down.

Left: Passengers checking-in at an American Airlines ticketing counter in 2011, in Dallas.Right: A row of self-check-in kiosks in 2012, in Seattle.Many middle-class workers have lost jobs because powerful software and computerized machines are doing tasks that only humans could do before.

Left: Toll collector Anthony Morris worked a booth at the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in Catskill, N.Y., in 2012.Right: Manisha Padhye held up an E-Z Pass in 2009, in Broadview Heights, Ohio. Many middle-class workers have lost jobs because powerful software and computerized machines are doing tasks that only humans could do before.

Left: The General Services Administration telephone switchboard and its operators in 1951.Right: Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, on the Apple iPhone 4S in 2011, in San Francisco. The number of switchboard and telephone operators in the U.S. fell from 182,000 to 73,000 in 10 years through 2010 because of new technology.

Left: Yolanda Boozer, a secretary in the office of President Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1963, in Washington.Right: A reminder application as demonstrated on an iPhone, in 2013, in New York. The number secretaries and administrative assistants in the U.S. fell from 4.2 million to 3.1 million in ten years through 2010.

Left: Travel agent, Gabriele Herlitschka leafing through an Asia and Australia travel catalogue in her travel agency office in 2002, in Duesseldorf, Germany.Right: Expedia worker Mike Brown in an alcove set up for employees in 2013, in Bellevue, Wash. The number travel agents fell 46 percent from 142,000 to 76,000 in ten years through 2010.

Left: A teller at the Taipei Bank, in 2002, in Taipei, Taiwan.Right: Te 2011 Bank of America mobile application on a mobile device. Many middle-class workers have lost jobs because powerful software and computerized machines are doing tasks that only humans could do before.

Left: Head of the Library of Congress storage facility, at the Library of Congress in 2003, in Washington.Right: A “bookBot”, an automated retrieval system at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University in 2013, in Raleigh, N.C. Many middle-class workers have lost jobs because powerful software and computerized machines are doing tasks that only humans could do before.

Left: Assembling a motor in a Mercedes Benz factory in 2008 in Berlin, and a robot.Right: Painting a brake drum at Webb Wheel Products, in 2013, in Cullman, Ala. Thanks to robots, Webb Wheel hasn’t added a factory worker in over three years, though it’s making 300,000 more drums annually, a 25 percent increase.