The ubiquitous liftman

I find it very annoying when I enter an elevator in a public building, and find a lift operator within. I just don't understand the value that this individual adds to the situation. How hard is it to lift up a finger and push a button ? Instead, one is now compelled to have a conversation(albeit brief) with a person, who invariably looks extremely bored. ( can you really blame him ? )

An American friend and me went to a restaurant today, and seeing a lift operator there, we got to talking about this situation. Apparently, this is something rare in the US, and my friend was aghast that someone would actually choose this as a profession. The conversation veered to other things, but this got me thinking on the way back home...

Why does a business establishment hire a lift operator ? And why does a person choose to be a lift operator?

The second Q is probably easier to answer; most parts of India are still not "shining", and this is as good a job as many others for the man to put food on his family's table. ( I know for a fact that the lift operator at my previous office gets around Rs 4000/pm for his efforts, and he must be struggling to make ends meet in Bangalore. )

But, I wonder why an organization would feel the need to hire a lift operator...
To me, it can only be because they feel it is beneath their employees' dignity to operate an elevator for themselves. (not sure if the employees concur on this; most of my acquaintances share my view on the situation.)
This, combined with the fact that it costs next to nothing to hire a lift operator, reflects poorly on the state of our nation.

In my mind, India would be a step closer to "shining" when I no longer see any lift operators around. To me, it would indicate two things :
1. Each one of us doesnt believe it is beneath his/her dignity to perform simple tasks such as operating an elevator.
2. There are so many better employment opportunities available, that nobody wants to be a lift operator.