Economics

How Not to Be Replaced by Robots: Better Brush Up on Your Social Skills

  • Employment since 1980 focused in jobs needing social skills
  • Women seen having inside track in job market as a result

Real wage growth has been strongest in jobs that require workers to have both math and social skills, such as registered nurses, designers and financial managers.

Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images
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Dennis Mortensen, the founder of a technology startup, had a simple request for Amy Ingram: set up a meeting with a journalist.

Within minutes, Amy sent an e-mail with a preferred date and time and two alternatives. She reached out again in the middle of the night about nine hours later after getting no response: “I wanted to follow up with you about this meeting with Dennis.” Four hours after that, she fired off another e-mail: “I haven’t heard back from you yet about this meeting. Is this time convenient?”