Shopping at Coles and Woolworths used to mean a warm greeting and a friendly chat at the register.

We all complained when self-checkout kiosks came in, then got used to them, just as we’ve got used to smart gates and surveillance, and fewer floor staff. Making phone calls means battling obtuse chatbots and automated menus. We got used to this, too.

The next thing? Mass redundancies. Last week, Coles announced more than 1000 jobs will be moving offshore, leaving hundreds of Australians without employment – all while investing heavily in artificial intelligence. Back in June, Woolworths announced a similar plan. Will our grocery prices reduce? Don’t bet on it.

This trend is not limited to our supermarket duopoly. Over the past year, we have seen major financial institutions retrenching hundreds and sometimes thousands of employees. The ANZ Bank and Bendigo Bank were among the first, and you can be sure this is the tip of the iceberg.

When I’m on LinkedIn, I see a virtual graveyard of rows and rows of individuals with “open to work” highlighted on their profiles. As........

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