I was employed in a very well paid job. One day I made notes about the incredible number of mindless repetitive tasks I did and started thinking up ways to automate them. Most of them could have been automated using just Excel. Granted you’d need to know how to program in Excel, but it all doable. Tasks I regularly spent four to six hours on could be automated with eight hours work and then be virtually free after that. I looked around and listed all the tasks my department did that could be done away with. My boss was horrified. He said, in a threatening voice, “Fine, but you’ll be the first one laid off.”
We had government contracts and in general we were instructed to take the longest possible route. The more we charged the more the company made. (And that, is one reason why stuff costs the taxpayer so much.)
That’s where you implement the automation for yourself and use your new free-time to write that novel you’ve always wanted to.
“....we were instructed to take the longest possible route.”
.
Yup, contractors are paid my the number of manhours they charge. Load up the project with new hires (including a whole bunch of foreigners) and when the job is completed, lay’m off.
That’s how the game is played.
I work in a Help Desk and we could send out instructions to everyone the steps to fix many of the problems we deal with everyday but that is not done as many of us would probably lose our jobs. One of my previous supervisors even stated not to send out any walkthrus.... : )