The Future of Jobs is Now: How COVID-19 Accelerated Emerging Careers.
Big data. Automation. Blockchain.
Get used to these terms because they’ll be shaping the future of jobs for the next decade. It’s an inevitable paradigm shift that will touch every sector and industry.
The world is changing — and so are its jobs. Technological innovations are transforming the way we work, and gone are the days of the traditional workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in virtual workspaces becoming a new normal, which also revealed logistical challenges and organizational restructure to accommodate unexpected business needs.
With the world — and our processes — fundamentally changed, we’ve previewed the new area: and now understand what leaders of the future will need to master to thrive in our changing workforce.
Read on to learn how jobs are changing — and what you can do to prepare.
Did you know: During the 2008 recession and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, those with advanced degrees were three times less likely to become unemployed than those with less than secondary education. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The impact of COVID-19
COVID-19 exposed many gaps in health care, education, and employment rates among Americans. When the market crashed in April of 2020, Black men and women were disproportionately affected by the pandemic layoffs at 17% compared to 14% of all white workers. These figures contrast sharply with the 6% black employment rate in February of that same year, pre-market disruption.
The pandemic was a wake-up call for everyone. Jobs can be cut for the most vulnerable in a crisis; similarly, the transforming nature of careers is another seismic event fast approaching. With the introduction of high-technology, many roles may never return.
The jobs that will disappear
By 2025, automated robotics will have innovated to such a degree that they will be integrated with nearly every industry, which, according to a forecast by the World Economic Forum, could displace 85 million roles — specifically, low-skill, manual and routine jobs.
The top 10 jobs that expected to decrease in demand include:
- Data entry clerks
- Administrative and executive secretaries
- Accounting clerks
- Accountants
- Assembly workers
- Business services managers
- Customer service workers
- General operations managers
- Mechanics and machinery repairers
- Material recording and stock-keeping clerks
The emerging careers of the future
In contrast, automation will create 97 million emerging engineering opportunities, cloud computing, and data science. These growing fields will create jobs and displace all the traditional labor jobs that are expected to be lost.
The top 10 jobs that show an increased demand include:
- Data analysts and scientists
- AI and machine learning specialists
- Big data specialists
- Digital marketing and strategy specialists
- Process automation specialists
- Business development specialists
- Information security analysts
- Software and applications developers
- Internet of things specialists
- Project managers
Professionals who wish to remain relevant will need to earn skills to fill emerging roles. These efforts will position themselves for a shift from labor focus.
Future-proof your career with these key skills.
No one wants to be replaced, but life (and career) come at you fast. The best way to never become a statistic is to keep your skills relevant. Explore degrees and certificates to ensure you have the skills to avoid being displaced in the future. Some in-demand skills needed include:
- Product marketing
- Digital marketing
- Software development life cycle (SDLC)
- Business management
- Advertising
- Human-computer interaction
- Development tools
- Data storage technologies
- Computer networking
- Web development
- Management consulting
- Entrepreneurship
- Artificial intelligence
- Data science
- Retail sales
- Technical support
- Social media
- Graphic design
- Information management
Are you ready? Let’s get started.
For BIPOC, it pays (literally) to stay professional sharp in an ever-changing, global, and technologically connected workforce. Traditional jobs won’t work in the future. It would help if you had niche skills and cross-functional expertise. According to LinkedIn, top job clusters are data and artificial intelligence, people and culture, marketing, product development, and sales. So start preparing for your future right now with an education at the center of change. You’ll be glad you did.
Sources:
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2020.pdf
https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/employment-recovery.htm
