Chatbots, self-driving cars, 3D printing, deep learning, drones... they all have in common one thing: 10 years ago no one thought they would be possible. However, all of them and more are now a reality and an important part of our lives. And in the process of becoming a reality, all of these things replaced some jobs and they created others, revolving around technology and its development.
Compared to the past, all these newly created jobs are anything but repetitive. People no longer work in factories, doing the same thing their entire life, but quite the opposite. But what do we know about the future of jobs and can we, in any way, predict what they will be like?
We can surely try… :)
Companies nowadays want to hire less people, but grow exponentially through technology.
That is why, they are no longer looking for "job roles", but for "skill sets" that will help them leverage that technology. And there is a big difference between the most appreciated skills today, compared to 5 years ago, as the World Economic Forum observes:
The smart device that you are using, your favourite show being available to you Netflix, Siri telling you what the weather will be like… they are all a mix of data, code and electronic engineering. That is why developers, data scientists and electronic engineers are some of the most appreciated and sought after specialists out there.
But what do all these specialists have in common? They master, one way or another, one or more of the skills mentioned above.
The question that arises now is: will this be the case in 3-5-10 years time?
Will the coders, data analysts and engineers of today have their jobs safe in the future? Will that list of top skills change dramatically?
According to all the specialists out there, the answer is YES, that list will very likely change, that is why the learning process for anyone out there needs to be constant and continuous, especially in the tech field.
Even in our daily life, from the way we pay for groceries in the supermarket up to how we interact with each other and even surgeries, they are all influenced by technology and the way it evolved. We can now use VR in the operating room, we interact with chatbots and use their “know-how” to get answers to our questions and problems and using machine learning and artificial intelligence we can use immense amounts of data to our advantage.
While it’s difficult (or maybe impossible) to predict the job descriptions or the exact skill set required in a few years time, what we can foresee are the predilection towards technology and the need to “learn how to learn” and use that throughout our lives.
Think about it ;)
