One reason white-collar work thrived in earlier digital eras is that computers rarely replaced entire jobs in one go. They automated routine and repetitive tasks—those that could be codified into explicit rules and executed by machines. When a job was all routine and repetition, it could disappear (as happened with typists). But most professional roles are bundles of tasks, only some of which could be automated. The result was not replacement but upgrading: computers raised productivity and let human effort be directed towards higher-value activities like analysis and judgment. Air-traffic controllers illustrate the pattern: software helped process flight data, humans retained authority over high-stakes decisions, wages rose.
Missing from this piece are all the people cast off by automation. Corporations can adopt AI way faster than humans can retrain.
Quote Citation: The economist, “Why AI won’t wipe out white-collar jobs”, Jan 26th 2026, https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/01/26/why-ai-wont-wipe-out-white-collar-jobs