Inside Report (1)

"Smithers, meet Robbie the Robot - your new draftsman.''

The trend toward robots in the workplace already has blue-collar workers worried. But there is growing cause for concern in certain white-collar professions, too.

One white-collar job now facing computer takeover is draftsman. Some secretarial functions could be ''robotized,'' too. An informal poll by a group that conducts labor-management seminars nationwide finds only a few companies affected so far. But its specialists expect a substantial increase in the next 5 to 10 years.

Some experts think a likely reaction to the robot-in-the-office trend will be to prod white-collar workers to unionize to better protect their jobs. m