In the internet era we live in, usually, the question is not whether a job will be replaced, but when. In a report written by McKinsey, they estimate that ‘almost half of all the US jobs may be automated in the next decade’ (Kosslyn, 2019). Thus, the challenge is to find a job that will still exist in the future. Besides the well-known routine jobs such as factory workers and barista’s, IBM’s Watson has been able to create a movie trailer by itself (Hauser, 2019). This shows that it the potential for automation is growing. However, according to Hauser (2019), there is a relatively clear distinction in the jobs that are expected to be automated and the jobs that remain to be done by an actual person. The author’s first argument is that certain jobs will always require empathy, which is hard to deliver by computers. Secondly, in the internet era, nothing is more crucial than collaboration – ‘not only between people but between man and machine’ (Wolfe, 2018).
And that is where our MSc in Business Information Management becomes relevant. Computers currently display an inability to function on its own – there is always a human person required to give orders, feed them with data and give them context (Kosslyn, 2019). This means there will always be at least one person required to smoothen the collaboration between a business and its IT landscape. Let this be exactly what our master is offering: ‘Learn how to analyse the strategic potential of information and its application to business and corporate networks’ (RSM, nd.). Therefore, I think it is safe to say that the one person required in the future era of automated jobs will be us.
However, how long will it take until computers will be able to show empathy and pick up context itself? We are safe for now, but will we be in the future?
Hauser, L., (2019). In the Era of Automation, How Will The Job Market Adapt? Chief Executive [Online]. Available at: https://chiefexecutive.net/automation-job-market-adapt/
Kosslyn, S.M., (2019). Are You Developing Skills That Won’t Be Automated? Harvard Business Review [Online]. Available at: https://hbr.org/2019/09/are-you-developing-skills-that-wont-be-automated
RSM (nd.). MSc Business Information Management. Rotterdam School of Management [Online]. Available at: https://www.rsm.nl/master/msc-programmes/msc-business-information-management/curriculum/why-this-programme/
Wolfe, I.S. (2018). What happens to the “average” worker when average work is obsolete? Rework [Online]. Available at: https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/rework/what-happens-%E2%80%9Caverage%E2%80%9D-worker-when-average-work-obsolete
I definitely think our MSc program will be relevant for the years to come. We will be the glue between business and technology. However, I do think it is necessary to gain and develop in-depth knowledge and expertise of the technologies we ought to manage.
In the one year trajectory of our MSc, we will learn the basics of some technologies, but certainly not enough to make thought-full decisions. We need to have a thorough understanding of the tools we have in our arsenal before we can use them to their fullest potential. Educating ourselves outside university walls will, therefore, prove helpful to many students.
At the end of the day, it’s not the piece of paper on your wall. It’s what you can turn out.
Good food for thought. However, I think you have to be critical when stating ‘the challenge is to find a job that will still exist in the future’. Automation might replace jobs, but mostly it will change/ shift job structures, and next to this, also creates new types of occupations. According to … the question is not if there will be jobs, but more if workers today, given their existing skill sets, will be qualified to get the jobs that that will be there. Although our Master teaches us ‘how to smoothen between business and the IT Landscape’, this does not necessarily mean that we will be the ”one person required in the future era of automated jobs”. What we learn today in our BIM Master, may not be the required knowledge/ skills in the future, as technology will continue to advance rapidly. Therefore, we should all engage in lifelong learning in order to constantly match our skills and knowledge to shifting jobs requirements caused by technological development. By doing so, I think that not only we, but also people from other occupancies then IT or BIM will be safe now as well as in the future.
According to Chui, Lund & Gumbel (2018). Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/how-will-automation-affect-jobs-skills-and-wages