I have a friend who is a security manager with a 2 billion dollar company located on a major campus setting. Each building had a security guard/receptionist 12 hours a day. The security manager purchased high-tech automated doors, coupled with card access, and eliminated the security guards in three of the four buildings. My point is, it's not just white collar workers who can be replaced. In this case it was workers considered to be at the low end of the wage stream. But the company found a way to eliminate them through automation. In any business, if an expense can be eliminated, it will be. It is sad for those who lose their jobs, but it's always been done.