Work demands an even more human touch as machines take jobs

By FINANCIAL TIMES
Published on May 21, 2024

  

Jon Hilsenrath is a former senior writer at the Wall Street Journal, and author of ‘Yellen: The Trailblazing Economist Who Navigated an Era of Upheaval’
 
Tia Lee didn’t foresee a career when she first took a part-time job at a Macy’s make-up counter at the age of 17.
 
Looking back today at 58 — after becoming a professional make-up artist for television stars on Saturday Night Live, NBC’s Today show and elsewhere — she says her interpersonal skills made the difference. “When it comes to make-up, people are very needy,” Lee says. “It is intimate. You are touching somebody’s face.”
 
Her experience is a window into tectonic changes transforming the whole American workplace.

 

 

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