While the job market is a challenging right now, the opportunity to ride the next wave of change and build a successful career is here.
The world of work is changing and that change is accelerating. Artificial intelligence, automation and robotics will make this shift as significant as the introduction of the internet and digital technology. While some jobs will be lost, and many others created, almost all will change.
A recent article in Fast Company magazine “How the rise of autonomation can inform our upskilling during the pandemic” asserts that autonomation will be accelerated by the COVID 19 pandemic. The health challenges and the need for social distancing makes autonomation a welcome solution rather than a potential threat.
Yes, and there is considerable need for a workforce that can create, manage, and maintain this new generation of technology.
What the job market will look like moving forward
Due to the pandemic unemployment rates have soared to record levels with many of the jobs unlikely to return.
Yes, but according to a report from the World Economic Forum there will be 58 million opportunities for employment in AI and machine learning, but only 300,000 people with the skills to fill those roles. The employment gap is huge and just waiting to be filled. The only thing that’s needed for most workers is the training to develop the necessary skills.
Get Hired Australia’s Cayla Dengate in her recent article “Why the jobs of the future are already here and how you can get one”, calls out some of the opportunities for upskilling through courses over weeks and months through Universities and private providers. The article explores how the pandemic and border closures have brought opportunities to Australia for people to upskill and step into new roles.
Employers are changing what they’re looking for
A recent Deloitte study, commissioned by RMIT, found that over half of professional employers struggle to find employees with the right skillset. Technology might be your first though but while technology is allowing for more jobs to be automated, the jobs of the future will be more human-centric. So the skills in demand will be problem solving, creativity, innovation, leadership and initiative. The biggest trend will be careers with a focus on the bridge between humans and technology and how to make it work.
This is both challenge and opportunity. While the job market is competitive and some roles have disappeared, there are considerable opportunities to retrain and upskill. Competencies that are transferrable from other industries and that many experienced successful people have well developed –that are relevant across multiple industries and tend to improve over time – are more valuable now than ever before.
What do you see as the challenge and the opportunity?
Robyn