deskill

Verb

deskill (third-person singular simple present deskills, present participle deskilling, simple past and past participle deskilled)

1. (transitive) To redesign (a job) so that less skill is required to carry it out, for example through the introduction of new technology.
   • The impact on workers is fairly obvious but I believe that managerial jobs have also been deskilled by the adoption of controlling systems and procedures.
   • “Word processors are wonderful to make us more productive, but employers tend to take this to an extreme,” she said. “Some secretaries are very pleased with automation, but it's the larger number whose jobs are deskilled, made more redundant.”1985 August 4, Elizabeth Kolbert, quoting Deborah Meyer, “Computers Ease the Load — At Times”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
2. (transitive) To change the role of (workers) so that they are no longer required or able to use the skills that they have acquired.
   • Tragic, too, is the gradual deskilling of teachers, loss of excitement about the profession, and loss of gifted teachers to other pursuits.
   • In this transition from an economy built on energy-guzzling heavy industry toward a 21st century society of energy-sipping high technology, millions of Americans and Europeans are being “deskilled.”1983 June 12, Bruce Nussbaum, “‘Reskilling’ Workers”, in The New York Times, →ISSN