There was a recent survey undertaken to establish which jobs and professions the advancement of technology has been responsible for the demise of in the last 60 years.
It concluded that many jobs have changed as years have passed and some professions have been affected by technological advancements, but that other factors such as economics, fall in demand and changing lifestyles had played their part.
The survey could only identify one single profession whose demise is the result solely of automation and nothing else.
That profession is the commercial lift attendant. This means that nothing else has caused the loss of commercial lift attendant jobs other than the fact that lifts now operate automatically.
No doubt you will have seen some older films where the lift attendant was responsible for opening and closing the lift doors to allow people to enter, pressing the appropriate floor button, and then opening the doors to allow their passengers to leave the lift.
If you think about it, all of those functions are done automatically now, apart from the button press, which as we all know the passengers now do for themselves.
The Early Days Of Commercial Lift Attendants
Lift attendants were first used in the early 20th century as cities around the world started to erect taller buildings, many of which were so tall they were called skyscrapers.
These tall buildings required lifts and commercial lift attendants were essential for the safe operation of those lifts and the safety of those who travelled in them.
In many early lifts, the lift attendant controlled the movement of the lift using a large lever that regulated the speed of the lift’s travel.
This required a high degree of skill and further skills were needed to ensure that the lift stopped level with the floor so that passengers could move in and out of the lift without having to step up or down.
Lift Attendant = Public Relations Experts
As well as the more technical and skilful elements of their work, lift attendants needed other talents too, especially in buildings where businesses operated.
The ability to provide a friendly greeting to visitors, to answer questions when asked, and to bid the exiting passengers a kindly thank you and goodbye, were all part of a commercial lift attendant’s duties.
This was a hugely important role because in many cases, the lift attendant would be the first representative of a company anyone met.
If their first impression of the company was a positive one due to the friendliness and politeness of the lift attendant, it augured well for that business.
Commercial lift attendants were also expected to provide visitors to a building with information about each floor, they would often be asked to tell those entering department stores about special deals which were taking place, and they occasionally provided tours of the building as part of their additional duties.
The Decline Of Commercial Lift Attendants
As we have already mentioned the decline of commercial lift attendants is solely due to automation.
This started to occur on a wider scale during the 1960s, as a result of automatic doors for lifts and control panels which allowed passengers to select their floor destination themselves.
By the late 1970s, commercial lift attendants were all but gone, bar a few exceptions.
The Remaining Few
We mentioned exceptions because even today there are still some locations where you will find lift attendants.
This tends to be more for tourists rather than any real need for them to operate lifts. Examples are some of the older hotels and the subway in New York, and the Eiffel Tower in Pairs.
Many of the locations you will find lift attendants have older style lifts where it might be deemed more cost-effective to retain lift attendants than it is to replace the entire lift system.
