The Digital Future Of Work

There is a growing debate about the rapid advancement in technology and automation and it's effect on society. In recent past technology and in particular robotics and automation has developed by leaps and bounds. It's not a question about the role of technology in a way how we work but technology is now shaping the workforce of the future. Some think that it will destroy the jobs and other are of the view that via using automation and robots, productivity can be increased and in turn it would help to create new opportunities in work place.
To add to this fear that a rapid advancement in technology can result in mass destruction of jobs and ruin out working lives, a well known tech-optimist, Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates is suggesting the Governments to create a "tax on robots" so as to slow down the current pace of automation.
As per one recent research done, automation at current pace is predicted to abolish up to five million jobs only in Australia by year 2030 that is forty percent of the jobs that exist today. What kind jobs could vanish? The jobs which requires little to no social interaction, jobs which requires low mobility, sorters, call center, translator, data entry and so on.
So, how one can secure a place in future workforce and what can be done to stay at top of the game? The conformability to the new technology has to match the rapid pace of change which is happening in workplace today in order to stay at the top.

Highly Developed Skill sets

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To be a winner and keep yourself ahead of the game, one has to thing out of the box and look at problems in unconventional way. The skill sets required would be, highly developed problem solving, curiosity to update to new tech skills, teamwork and flexibility, show integrity and resilience, . To look at the problems from all angels and finding a workable solution.
In order to compete, one would required to be highly creative, having good emotional intelligence and strong strategic planning skills and at the top, leadership skills will need to be phenomenal. Those who work outside of the traditional work space would require a high degree of organizational and management skills to do the task with little or no supervision.
Technological advancement and machines with minimum to no human interaction is already visible in a countless number of fields, from amazon automated warehouse to driverless trains in China.

Below is the video, showing amazon automated warehouse. Amazon now has 45,000 robots across 20 fulfillment centers.

Here is a video of world's first driverless train that only needs white painted lines as tracks and doesn't require a driver

It is evident that the Industrial revolution mostly based on Artificial Intelligence will wipe out jobs as well as will have far-reaching effect on the jobs that would remain.

Tailor Your Own Future

Building and improving the personal attributes to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people, identifying and also grasping the opportunities that may come in a distorted economy will set you apart. Technology will keep on evolving at much rapid pace. The nature of jobs and workforce is changing and it will keep on changing with advancement in tech. so being optimistic it really doesn't mean that ultimately it will lead to complete demise of jobs, I believe with changing tech, different set of skills would be required as discussed previously as well. Human creativity element is always there so as to create new areas in job market.

One has to be prepared for possible setbacks and be opened to creative and new ideas. The entrepreneurial mindset will give a unique advantage with employers as well as it would help in achieving success in your own ventures as changing your mindset could be the key to changing your life.

The Human Connection

While many jobs would be changed and many would disappear, human element will always be there and would be needed in roles like nursing, social work, psychology and disability support. In fact, The health and social care sector is set for a jobs boom.

As artificial intelligence becomes more refined and complex, chat bots and other technology could be used to handle most of the interactions hence this will change the orthodox way of doing jobs, and will require people to consistently learn and upgrade their skills set and get used with the technologies that become part of their everyday working lives.

To survive in the future job market and to become attraction to future employers , a diverse and highly developed skills set would be required and most importantly, one should be eager and committed to take charge and skill up.

| Images from pixabay

Conclusion

In the constant, unpredictable and rapid changes happening around, one has to take charge in shaping the working life. Rapid advancement of technology and AI underlines that we have to rethink that education and building skills set on the job will lead to better prospects.