The era of a universal basic income has just got closer

As unemployment ticks up, many are pointing to the rise in national insurance contributions. But the government faces a far more pressing problem than that, writes Chris Blackhurst

- Chris Blackhurst

It is becoming harder and harder to talk to a human being. Twice recently I have wanted, needed, to speak to customer services. On each occasion, finding the actual phone number proved tortuous. There are FAQs and online “help” to be bypassed, and even if you get through, an automated message implores you to return to the internet.

Likewise, a new Thai restaurant has opened up the road, and its novelty is not the food but a robot waiter. How we revel in its brilliance. How we forget, too, how warm and friendly were the staff in the old place before it was taken over by tech-minded - and yes, penny-pinching - newcomers.

Progress, I’m meant to say. That may be so, but these are also jobs. And work is slowly but surely disappearing. At an E2E business networking gala the other evening, a panel of successful entrepreneurs was asked what effect AI was likely to have on staffing. “Net positive” was the answer from a tech boss. That sounds good, and there was plenty of nodding from a packed crowd, but what I think he was really saying was that some employees would go, others would join, and the overall effect would be beneficial for the bottom line.

Not everyone was so enthusiastic. Those wondering what the future holds for their children were probably not applauding. Because commercial folks are humans, too - we were reminded of that, forcibly, by Steve Byrne, CEO of Travel Counsellors, the UK’s largest and fastest-growing digital platform for travel operators. In a quite brilliant address at the same E2E event, Byrne, whose business was listed by the London Stock Exchange as one of its 100 “companies to inspire” and has twice won Amazon’s Growing Business of the Year, spoke passionately of the need to treat people - staff, customers, everyone - properly, and to build relationships.