By Wayne Tompkins, Gannett News Service 

A machine popping up in shopping malls, on university campuses and in other heavily traveled areas makes job hunting as easy as withdrawing cash.

Swiss company Adecco SA recently unveiled its $6,000, ATM-like Job Shops kiosks at Jefferson Mall in Okolona, Ky. and River Falls Mall in Clarksville, Ind. More of them are planned in the Louisville, Ky. area.

So far, executives of the employment company say, 22 people have found jobs through the machines.

The machines do not instantly dispense jobs to customers. Using touch-screen technology, they prompt users to specify what kind of work they are looking for, along with their education, experience and salary requirements.

The machines also ask how many hours a person wants to work, what time of day they prefer to work and when can they start. The answers are sent to Adecco's central database. The customer is contacted the next day to set up an appointment with Adecco.

Pat McGee, who recently moved to Louisville after 18 years with the U.S. Army in Europe, tried out the machine at Jefferson Mall this week.

"It's very user-friendly and self-explanatory," she said. "The exposure is great. Employed people, unemployed people, everybody goes to the mall."

Interactive kiosks like Adecco's are becoming easier to find, and they're taking on more and more roles -- everything from selling airline tickets to giving directions. In fact, the research firm Computer Economics is predicting that the current 210,000 kiosks will grow nearly fourfold by 2004.

The ever-increasing speed of information processing has enabled companies to automate services that used to require bored, low-paid people.

For example, kiosks at auto-parts stores allow customers to browse through thousands of auto components. A customer can buy an item through the kiosk and have it shipped directly home or to the store.

Some hotels are using the kiosks as virtual concierges, providing information on everything from checkout times to area tourist attractions.

And McDonald's Corp. said this week that it is working on an interactive kiosk people can use to order a Big Mac and fries.

"It's part of the evolution of technology and automation in the sense that, if you don't need a live person to do it, try to automate it," said Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y. "It's just going to continue. With too many (tasks) it's just faceless bodies performing a function. It's sad, but it's the truth."

Celente says the widespread acceptance of "pay at the pump" service-station technology is merely an early example of where the trend is going. "I'm old enough to remember when all service stations had attendants," he said.

Ironically, Adecco is helping people find jobs with the same technology that is allowing many companies to trim jobs.

The global company, based in Switzerland, began rolling out its job-search machines across the United States this year, following a successful debut in Germany.

Adecco executives say the kiosks are targeted as much at the underemployed as the unemployed. And the machines have caught the eye of business and government leaders.

"The low unemployment rate is a big workplace issue right now," said Lydia Reid, an executive with Greater Louisville Inc., the chamber of commerce group. "Having this type of product readily accessible and available can only help us address that."

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Thanks Anna!