New Jobs. New Skills.
Remember that time when you had to do laundry? You would probably imagine it as throwing your clothes into the washing machine then doing your own thing while it does the work. When was the last time you had to wash clothes without a machine? You probably don’t remember or even had that skill to begin with.
Jobs have been changing and will continue to do so. As jobs are destroyed and created, old skills will have to be replaced with new ones.
Why do skills change? Can’t I get a job with my current skill set?
The reason why skills are changing is because the work force will need to have the skills in order to pair up with adjusting jobs. For an example, if someone from the past who made handmade pottery were to apply for a pottery job now, it would be difficult for them to apply because their skills are outdated. Automation of making pottery destroyed available jobs for this person and they will have to update their skills to fit with new jobs.
Although there are still jobs from the past that are still available, there are very few opportunities to apply for a position in that job. I think one necessary work skill one must have is the ability to participate in an interview stream (online job interview). I’ve conducted a survey on a couple of friends to see whether they have this skill or not:
As you can tell from the graph, a large percentage of participants have basic knowledge on interview streams which is an online interview session with employers. This trending procedure eliminates the need of traveling and unnecessary time consumption which requires individuals to have the ability to be able to communicate properly with the employer. There has to be specific knowledge of the situation and how to prepare for this kind of interview. The remaining 40% of people who have not heard of interview streams will have to develop the skill to communicate with employers digitally.
Cashiers will soon lose their jobs
Amazon is replacing their cashiers with automated “just-walk-out” technology where “computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning tools function to determine which items a customer put in their cart, and make the right charges” according to TechRepublic’s article. Where will the previous cashiers go and what will their current cashier skills do for them? This is one example of a job for the human work force being destroyed leaving people unemployed because they are lacking proper work skills that are qualified for current and future jobs.
We don’t know what new jobs will be created but it’s best to be prepared to expand your knowledge, abilities, and skills to adapt.
