Answer: Machines

Questions:

• What types of tasks do you think a bank call center employee handles (i.e. why do people call a bank's 800 number)? 
• If you were a call center employee at this bank or at other companies, would you be worried?
• What kind of tasks do you think machines will likely replace humans in the future? 
• What kind of jobs do you think are safe and will not be automated in the future?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (from Financial Times (sub. required):

Citigroup chief executive Mike Corbat has suggested that “tens of thousands” of people working in the US bank’s call centres are likely to be replaced by machines that can “radically change or improve” customers’ experience while cutting costs...He would not specify how many people Citi employed in call centre jobs or how many would be affected, but said that the “30 most common customer journeys”, such as ordering replacement bank cards and asking about statements, were “pretty easy to deal with”.

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What jobs are likely be replaced by a machine in the future? Check out this Planet Money Interactive that we used to create an activity to help your students grapple with this important issue. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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