Have you wondered how the future of the job market will be like in the coming years? This is arguably one of the most important subject for university students who will enter the job market in the coming year. This article aims to provide you with more insights into the future and better prepare you for the currently dynamic and fast transforming global job market.
Speed of change
One thing you not know is that our current job market is changing at the fastest rate ever since the second and third industrial revolution. Driven by technical advances, the occupation industry faces significant job creation to job losses. Many currents most in-demand occupations simply did not exist five years ago. 65% of children currently studying in primary school will end up working for job types which don’t exist yet in our society.
Drivers of change
In our current information age, technology and information sharing is the biggest driver our change in the job market. Sectors in artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, genetics and biotechnology all require close collaboration and knowledge sharing across these sectors. The breakthrough in one sector could positively benefit the other. Another driver is in the rise of smart systems such as smart homes, factories, or entire cities. This utilisation of Internet of Things could not only help us tackle climate change but also contribute significantly to the occupation transformation process.
Employment trend
Between the period 2016-2020, it is projective that over 5.1 million jobs will be lost due to disruptive technology. Another 7.1 million jobs in the current white collar functions will also be lost, these functions including office and administrative roles as well as manufacturing and production roles across varies sectors and industries. Estimated 2 million jobs will be created in the computer, mathematical, architecture and engineering related fields.
New emerging roles
Two type of jobs stand out as the most vital emerging roles across emerging job categories. First type is data analyst which are used by companies to gain insights from the vast amount of data in the current digital environment. Second is specialised sales representatives, as every industry will need to improve and transform its current commercial and sales strategy and channels.
Reference:
World Economic Forum . (2016). The future of jobs. WEF.
Dear Youming, thank you for your blog! You present some very interesting figures, and I think also a lesson for everyone: keep up with the trends of today, otherwise you might miss out on an opportunity tomorrow. While I believe that we as BIM students will be okay with finding and keeping a job, I am afraid that these changes will mostly affect low-educated people. Hence, in order to keep up with the trends in the job market, it would be good for the government to start educating people in these new fields from a young age, and make sure that jobs that are lost are replaced with other jobs. Another option would be to re-educate or train people who potentially lose their jobs because of technological advances.
It is really interesting that 65% of childeren currently studying will work in jobs that do not exist yet – this just shows the huge effect Information Technology has on society, in my opinion.
Interesting blog, it reminded me of an article I read not so long ago:
http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/economie/286000-studenten-opgeleid-voor-werk-dat-verdwijnt-door-robots
This article states that 286,000 students are currently being educated for jobs that will disappear. The conclusions in this article are in line with your blog; most jobs will disappear in the low-skilled segment. Choosing education with a good job perspective is becoming more and more relevant!
Thank you Youming, for sharing your thoughts on this subject! This was also one of the subjects I wanted to write about, but I think you presented three of the most important topics. The numbers are very disturbing. I think that children should be prepared better for the future. Currently, I think the education system lacks of educating about future innovation and job perspectives. When I was in high school (4 years ago) I never got educated about this subject. I think teaching about future innovations is more important than, for example, history or geography.
I think that the robotic sector will take over most of the lower and middle class jobs, as they state in this article about Professor Moshe Vardi. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12155808/Robots-will-take-over-most-jobs-within-30-years-experts-warn.html
Lets hope our BIM jobs will still exist in 30 years
Interesting read Youming! We are certainly seeing the effects of disruptive technologies on the global job market. Even after having completed a Bachelor and working towards a BIM Master, your first role as a qualified graduate may cease to exist in the years to come. Whilst I feel we will generally be safe as BIM students, due to the skills we gain on how to anticipate and adapt to changes in the technological sphere, I think that we will continuously have to prepare for and become qualified in the technological innovations of tomorrow.
From personal experience, the company I work for recently announced thousands of job cuts (almost a fifth of the entire workforce). Whilst redundancies are industry wide, a great emphasis is put on the efficiencies derived from digitalisation. Consequently, I feel that despite what industry we choose to work in, we must anticipate how certain technologies may advance and how this may affect us as professionals in the future.