Bank Teller

She recognized the direction technology was changing her job prospects

JM lives in suburban Philadelphia, the mother of four children. She has an Associate’s degree from a community college and had been employed for several years as a bank teller in a branch bank. Early within the covid pandemic of 2020 / 2021, her bank branch became drive-in only, which JM understood was the natural progression within the banking industry – toward electronic banking with no need to visit banks in person. Thus many banks were reducing the number of their branch banks due to declining    in-person customer visits. 

ASSESSING FUTURE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY AND/OR THE ECONOMY

As the covid crisis deepened, bank teller JM didn’t need an economics degree to forecast the future of branch banking. She concluded that banks aren’t going to be generally extinct but many branch banks would be closing to reduce unnecessary bank expenses. 

ASSESSING ALTERNATIVES TO A PRESENT CAREER

So, how to cope with a changing economy? JM considered her interests:   (A) she likes helping children learn and (B) she needs steady employment to earn a living to support herself and her family.

JM’s conclusion after assessing her need and her interest: teaching could meet both goals after she returned to school to earn her Bachelor’s degree in education with a certification in the subject matter(s) and grade(s) she preferred to teach. 

CHOICES WITHIN A CAREER

But teach what subjects in which grades? JM observed a second grade classroom and based on that experience (in her opinion, there would be too much focus on getting the kids’ attention rather than educating them – fortunately thousands if not millions of happy elementary school teachers disagree and prefer to work with pre-teens), JM changed her teaching focus to middle school students, typically aged 11 to 13. 

FINANCIAL COMPENSATION ALWAYS A CAREER CHOICE FACTOR

The final advantage to teaching would be better compensation: in 2020, the average pay for middle school teachers in the Philadelphia area was about $72,000, although starting salaries are considerably lower. As a bank teller, JM was earning $18 an hour, or about $37,000 a year. If she is offered employment in her southwest Philadelphia suburb, her middle school teacher’s salary would be $41,000 to start; statewide, the average starting pay is $44,000. However, many applicants for full-time teaching positions can only find part-time, substitute teaching jobs or as temporary fill-ins for experienced teachers not working for perhaps a semester due to a disability or maternity leave or a union contract sabbatical. 

CHANGING CAREERS IS NOT ALWAYS AN EASY OPTION

JM was fortunately able to incur the educational expense of returning to college for several more years to earn her B.A. degree. Concurrently she had to figure out how to manage parenting her children (with or perhaps without a spouse to assist) and whether she could afford to quit her bank teller job or seek part-time employment in the same or a different job until she could obtain her education certification and a full-time teaching position. 

“THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE”

While technology will continue to affect whether certain jobs or careers will continue to exist, experts note that technology will also continue to affect jobs which are certain to remain in existence, such as teaching. Will some remote or hybrid learning be here to stay? To what extent will technology be utilized within classrooms? An old maxim applies: “The only constant is change!”