Richard Bolles thinks there is a lot of rubbish spoken about robots. They are not, he insists, about to take our jobs. The current debate about the “end of work” due to automation is cyclical, he says. “It is pure nonsense, spoken by pundits looking for attention. Every job in the history of the world is born, flourishes, decays and dies. Every job is mortal.”
He adds: “When people look for jobs and can’t find them they say the Chinese or robots are taking our jobs. New jobs get created.”
The 88-year-old is well placed to take the long view. As the author of the career search manual, What Color is Your Parachute, first published more than 40 years ago and updated annually, he is regarded — for good or bad — as the inventor of the careers advice industry.