The world of work is changing dramatically, already causing significant disruption in patterns of jobs and raising questions about what work will look like for individuals, what skills will be needed, and how youth might prepare for productive work in a future where they will have many jobs and even multiple careers over a lifetime. Writing on work futures is generally in agreement about the major drivers of change, including technological change - artificial intelligence, robots and big data, as well as innovation in materials, propulsion and energy strategies, climate change, globalization, population pressures and changed demographic profiles. The implications for jobs are more vague, and futurists spread along a continuum stretching from predictions of dystopian futures to optimistic predictions of a better life for all.
In this research we review the literature on work futures, noting a long history of concerns about technological disruption that have proved unfounded in the broad sense, but acknowledging that the disruptive effects of the drivers above will lead to uneven patterns of change. Machines are already taking over many repetitive jobs and increasingly encroach on professional work such as accountancy or office work. It is apparent that there will be a shift in emphasis to more skilled, and professional jobs, but pundits are divided on whether these changes will bring net job losses or net job creation. Trends away from routine jobs towards non-routine manual and especially cognitive skill work are already apparent, and will continue. There are a number of threads in the literature concerning the skills that will be increasingly valued in the new workplace. These include entrepreneurial skills, involving adaptability, autonomy and self-direction, in a situation where workers will need to sell their skills across many jobs, and incorporate freelance work among these. Increasingly, people in all jobs will need digital skills, and STEM/STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics] skills are advocated by many as the basis of much of the changing economy. Interpersonal skills will become more important as many routine jobs, or routine aspects of jobs, are taken over by machines, and there will be a need for people to work creatively at the human-computer interface. Many argue that this will make jobs more interesting and rewarding, creating more room for personal and community values, creativity and imagination. The general view is that people, in future jobs need to be working with machines, rather than competing with them.
In this research our aim has been to interrogate these work futures through the predictive construction of '100 jobs of the future', that go beyond generalities of trends and skills, and offer a grounded, but complex and imaginative projection of future work. Through creating this list of jobs, we have generated a representation that we hope will inform the public, and youth yet to enter the labour market, on what future of work may entail, and what skills and interests will best prepare people for this future. Other commentators have come up with such job lists, but our aim has been to pursue this in a rigorous fashion by drawing on selected industry and disciplinary experts well-placed to talk about trends in their fields.
Excerpt from publication.
Show less
