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ISCO 4211 · O*NET 43-3071.00 · codes unverified

Bank teller

Near the bottom of the site, and the most misread job in the whole automation argument. The cash machine did not end the teller. What ended the teller came later, and it looked like a phone.

Chapter one. The example everybody cites, usually to prove the opposite of what happened. Read the essay →

13
Resilience Rebuilding

Most of what this job was is being rebuilt. What replaces it is a different job with the same name.

0 rebuilding 100 anchored

Scale, labels and thresholds are provisional. This is open question Q-02.

19 of 20 in the launch set

How the score is made

Four declared inputs, never collapsed into one number. Assistance is kept apart from outright automation, because a tool that makes you faster and a tool that replaces you are not the same event. Physical work counts as shelter only to the extent robotics cannot reach it.

The full method is written out, including what it cannot tell you.

Note on this occupation Tellers per branch fell while branch numbers rose, for about two decades after the cash machine arrived. The honest version of this story includes both halves, and it includes the people who did lose their jobs.

Assisted
40

Higher is generally good news. It means more of the work gets faster without the work going away.

Done outright
76

This is the number most people mean when they say exposure. It is kept separate from assistance on purpose.

Physical
20

Protective only for as long as robotics cannot reach it. Read this one next to the robotics number, never alone.

Robotics reach
55

Low reach turns physical work into shelter. High reach turns it into the main exposure.

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What changes

Tasks moving to machines, in whole or in part.

  • Cash handling, deposits and routine transfers.
  • Account opening and identity checks.
  • Balance queries and statement requests.

What stays human

Tasks that need a person, and why.

  • Recognising when a transaction is not what it appears to be.
  • Sitting with someone who has lost control of their money.
  • Being a physical place a community can walk into.

What's new

Work that did not exist in this job ten years ago.

  • Fraud and vulnerability work that regulation now requires a person for.
  • Advising on products rather than processing them.
  • Supporting the customers digital channels leave behind.

These three lists are editorial commentary, written against task-level data but not generated from it (OCC-05). Treat them as the author's reading, not as output.

Compare with another job

Pick one. You get a card with both scores, both sets of components, and a link worth sending to someone.

Sources used on this page