The Future is Changing, so are the Jobs

In April 2020, I came across Microsoft’s press release, and they highlighted a quote that Satya Nadella shared during his quarterly earnings presentation to wall street – 2 years of digital transformation in 2 months. It is true that COVID disrupted normal functioning, but we as people and organizations adapted as well as changed to tackle this disruption, which brought about the rapid transformation that we see as of today. For example, Microsoft stated that in UAE alone, 350,000 students use teams for remote learning – Schools changed the way they teach, and obviously, students changed the way they learn. However, COVID was not the initiator of these changes in the world; it just sped up the process, but this has been happening for a while – this set of changes or revolution is known as the industrial revolution. 

The 1st industrial Revolution started in 1760 and the focus at that time was on steam engineering. As the world went through various industrial revolutions, different industry aspects were affected. What we are seeing & experiencing right now is the 4th Industrial revolution, otherwise known as Industry 4.0 (IR 4.0). This involves combining the physical, digital, and biological worlds – we are in the era of cyber-physical systems. The aim is to create a prosperous future that involves not only using technology but also innovating to make lives easier, happier, inclusive & sustainable. 

Since I live in UAE, I am going to take this country as an example to showcase some of the positive changes. UAE has embraced IR 4.0 and has been using technology positively in several sectors. Consider Dubai airport which is in the process of implementing facial recognition software to check-in passengers, rather than using passports; your face becomes your passport. Another example is the EXPO 2020 that is going to happen in October 2021 where many countries are coming together in one venue to share their advancements as well as technology. This does involve digitizing as well connecting industries through various technologies e.g Health Sciences, Food Technology, Information Technology, and the list goes on. It is important as a youth and as a student to understand this so that you can prepare to gather those additional skills required to be successful in your chosen field. 

Keeping this in mind, I am going to share some areas where job profiles have evolved and share some examples. Any role that just requires professional knowledge & logical thinking for judgement could be replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, those jobs that require creativity & management will be an exception. I have referred to the 100 jobs of the future report published by Deakin University, Griffith University & Ford Motor Company to highlight some of the future jobs in different fields. 

Technology has seen the biggest changes due to industry 4.0 – Engineering, Construction, Data Science to name a few. If you look at Engineering, for example, a Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineer would traditionally look at manufacturing, however, such engineers should also look at the food processing/juice industry where certain manual operations are run using robots, hence the requirement for specialists to manage these robots. Some future jobs in Technology are Bioprinting Engineer, Ethical Hacker, Digital Augmentation Officer, Gamification Designer, Machine-Learning Developer etc. 

Data Science/Big Data/Data Analytics is a growing phenomenon in the world across nations and industries. Companies need people who can analyse data and provide it in a form understood by the salesperson and marketers. Related to this field, some of the other jobs are Algorithm interpreter, Data Farmer, Data Privacy specialist (GDPR), 3D printing specialists, Digitech troubleshooters and so on. 

People & Experience are two areas that go hand in hand. People jobs involve person-to-person interactions, whereas Experience jobs involve sharing/providing an experience to customers e.g. museum guide. Both these areas are undergoing changes whereby jobs could be taken over by AI, for example, if we take the hospitality sector, especially reception & information services (standardized services), AI can be used for these services. This is where you have to equip yourself with advanced hospitality skills to prevent being replaced. AI Educator & Early Childhood Teacher. Nowadays, teachers have started to upskill themselves, especially acquainting oneself with technology, because this is the direction of the education industry – Some new roles include AI Educator, Early Childhood Teacher, and Lifelong Education Advisor. Companies are more focused on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), hence new departments, as well as jobs around CSR, are being developed. Another similar role would be of a community support worker. 

Health & Environment: Recent crisis has pushed the requirement for technology advancements in Health Sciences e.g use of Virtual Reality (VR) tools in medical research; scientists utilise VR training simulations in developing protocols for providing healthcare. Doctors need to skill themselves to manage operations via robots which is the future and role is known as virtual surgeon. When we consider the Environment, everyone would think of Sustainability in line with UN’s development goals (SDGs), and universities are also working on research projects in line with UN SDGs. Some jobs that are coming up include Water Management Specialist, Waste Reclamation Specialist & Weather Control Engineer. People working on Cloud Seeding in UAE have a similar profile to a Weather Control Engineer. 

Business has seen a lot of changes, especially in the Finance sector. We have seen the rise of FinTech, businesses are being run virtually and new ways to invest or trade. Some of the jobs are Blockchain Analyst, Personalized Marketer, innovation Manager, Sharing Auditor, Trendwatcher and Chief Ethics Officer. Out of the lot, Trendwatcher is an interesting role – Someone who keeps a tab on ongoing innovations, developments & trends happening in different areas, and obviously gets paid to provide this information. 

Other sectors undergoing changes are Architecture/Construction (involving technology & robotics), Sustainable Agriculture (Agroecological Farmers, Farm Safety Advisors, Bio-Jacker), Energy Systems (Energy Solution Consultants, Community Growth Coordinators), Social Sciences/Services, and Space (Off-world Habitat Designer & Terraforming Microbiologist). 

While you will study the appropriate course to help you in your future career, it is important to constantly enhance yourself and accumulate life skills. Two important skills are the willingness to keep learning and being agile. However, more on that in my next blog article. One final tip is to opt for cross-disciplinary study which provides a better level of flexibility and the opportunity to work across various functions in a company. Let this example drive you towards achieving that – A while back, I came across an advertisement from Google whereby they had a position that required the candidate to have an Economics qualification as well as a keen interest for Music and play at least one instrument – The role involved analyzing data and understanding what people in the music industry required from a search engine. There are jobs and careers that will stretch you beyond your comfort zone, so be prepared for this change.

References: 

1. 2 years of digital transformation in 2 months: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/04/30/2-years-digital-transformation-2-months/. 
2. Industrial Revolution 4.0: https://www.weforum.org/focus/fourth-industrial-revolution. 
3. 100 Jobs of the Future Report: https://100jobsofthefuture.com/.