For tools programmers at least, generally the work you do is meant to enable the work other people at the company do - they aren't able to do it without you. El

For tools programmers at least, generally the work you do is meant to enable the work other people at the company do - they aren't able to do it without you. Eliminating their jobs entirely is a different matter, even if that can also be done by a tools programmer. For creative tasks like game development the applications for full automation are usually narrower, so you're typically doing 'force multiplier' sort of stuff, like creating powerful macros or error checkers etc. Hammers and nails don't eliminate carpenters. Most of what I did at that job was building a syntax highlighting editor w/autocomplete for game scripts, making builds faster, etc. Instead of eliminating jobs that mostly let us ship the same product faster.