[Philip-J-Fry]

Even if a person is not interested in the tech industry, it's still a highly valuable skill.

I know someone who has a lot of tedious work to do. If they could program they'd be able to do it much more efficiently. They can use that time saved to do anything else they want to do, perhaps they could have earned a promotion rather than slaving away on a repetitive task.

The world moves forward through efficiency, and automation is one of the major factors in that.