The jobs of the future – and skills you need to get them
Could a robot do your job? Millions of people who didn’t see automation coming will soon find out the painful way. The answer is a resounding yes.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs study predicts that 5 million jobs will be lost before 2020 as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology and other socio-economic factors replace the need for human workers.
The good news is that those same technological advances will also create 2.1 million new jobs. But the manual and clerical workers who find themselves out of work are unlikely to have the required skills to compete for the new roles. Most new jobs will be in more specialized areas such as computing, mathematics, architecture and engineering.
New skills for new economies
So what skills should workers be acquiring to make sure they have value as the Fourth Industrial Revolution gathers pace – soft skills like sharing and negotiating will be crucial, social skills such as empathy and cooperation, along with those soft skills, mathematical ability will be enormously beneficial.
Last night we heard this very same message from Margie Taylor, Scotland’s Chief Dental Officer, in a talk she gave to pupils, parents and staff.
This afternoon we heard the same themes from Claire Herriot, producer for Sky Television, on the professional skills and personal qualities required to thrive in today’s workplace.
It was a great pleasure for our young people to hear from two highly talented, enthusiastic, and dedicated professionals working in such demanding work environments. Both illustrated these very skills and qualities in their interaction with our young people.
My thanks to both speakers for taking time out of their very busy schedules to meet our young people and inspire them in their ambition for the future.
