I think tree maintenance is a great example of work that we should be automating because it's really dangerous and machines can do higher quality work than a human. The "tipping point" of when it will be cheaper to buy a machine vs hire a skilled laborer is unknown, but I'd be surprised if anything more than the most rote codemonkey programming was automated before this sweet spot of dangerous, skilled labor.

Tree trimmers will make far less money with the glut of unemployed software developers entering the field. They're already proficient at inverting (binary) trees, trimming them is child's play.

More seriously, if a huge chunk of white-collar professionals are made redundant, why would they have the cash to pay a tree trimmer?