A knowledge of maths is not important for most jobs nowadays. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Mathematics is an incredibly useful subject which is learned by almost everyone on the planet to some degree. Is math, however, a useful tool for most jobs especially with the advent of modern technology? In my view, I would tend to agree that it is no longer a vital part of most jobs, although ,clearly it remains critical for some industries.

There is now a growing number of professions where math is no longer important on a day-to-day basis at work. Employees do not need to perform calculations such as adding up bills or calculating percentages while at work. These jobs are performed by technologies such as tills and computers which automate the entire process. Once upon a time, retail employees would need to manually calculate the final sales total but this process has been replaced, first by calculators and more recently by electronic tills. Other companies which have once had to issue invoices or calculate future sales forecasts no longer require employees to manually calculate these since they have a variety of computer programs to complete this work. As we have a growing number of people who are working in these fields, it is safe to conclude that an increasing proportion of the population does not require basic calculations to perform their duties.

Despite this, it is important to note that there is and will always be a sub-section of the population that will probably always be required to rely on their mathematical skills. Health professionals such as doctors and dentists very often have to calculate doses of medicines manually while researchers in various fields have to calculate statistics and probabilities of events. Finally, there are, of course, those people who work in accounting, auditing or actuarial services who will always need mathematics.

The increased prevalence of technology within workplaces has, in my view, led to math becoming less and less important for most jobs nowadays. There will always remain, however, people in society who will rely on this subject to perform their jobs.