In other words, upgrade your job in place. I like this angle much better than the you’re in the business of unemploying people from a recent blogpost.† Also, the up or out‡ approach from certain companies suddenly made sense to me.
The angle may be more palatable but that doesn't change what's happening. Professional programmers are increasing efficiency and reducing menial tasks on a much larger scale than what's described in this article. It may not put people out of a job in every case but it is removing the need for a job that was previously needed.
Another big issue is, the programmers are getting nearly none of that wealth they create through these efficiencies. If I save the company $2m/yr that's the same as making them that money. I've made the company $2m/yr richer than they were. But I'll be lucky if I get a $100k bonus. Executives, in contrast, will capture a lot of that newly created wealth.
On a smaller scale, at my first proper dev job I saved the company around £20k/year with a few little hacks. Two days later I was fired for arriving at 9.30am and they withheld my pay for that month too (all 4 days of it!).
----
† the http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pro... ‡ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_or_out#Up_or_Out