Except that in almost every instance where a profession has been automated, that’s exactly what happened. Having a computer that keeps track of your inventory makes the workflow better for the logistics department, and then using a computer to schedule deliveries makes that part easier as well. And you keep doing that and eventually you’re doing the work of twelve professionals and your team shrinks down to 1/12th of what it was. And then you chip away at those tasks until you halve the workforce again, and eventually the computer is doing all of those tasks and the people who used to do those things are obsolete. Then they go back to school hoping to find a training program where they can make money before AI takes those jobs too.
Bitch I've got four computers and eight screens in front of me and the only thing that has changed since the era of magnetic tape is I can do more, faster, with less. I can't say that any simpler. You would have no more idea what I'm doing now than you would in the era of magnetic tape because I'm a professional with professional tools. I can't say that any simpler either. There's this assumption that if the tools get better the budget will shrink and that simply Does not Happen.
But surely there's way more logistics and shipping being done now in the age of computers than there was before. I'm young but I still remember a time before Amazon. I think you're imagining the one exact thing the computer is now doing being the totality of the job, whereas Klein (i assume) is talking about the industry as a whole, which generally increase in scope as it becomes cheaper easier and more prevalent.