As intellectuals argue about what impact new technologies and innovations will have on the labor market, it is extremely unlikely that it will be minimal and that massive numbers of new vocations will be created.
Employers want nothing more than to cut costs, reduce disruptions and automate. AI, machine learning, blockchain, robotics, autonomous vehicles and drones are all just beginning to enter the world. There has never in the history of mankind been so many powerful potential disruptions to the workforce as there are now. We are also beginning to see that the job market is impacted by workers who have skills and education, but that these attributes are no longer as helpful to the new type of jobs that are emerging. Education systems are not training us to be relevant in the new tech enabled economy and many current jobs aren’t either. This skill gap can be filled by what is known as upskilling or re-skilling. Those wishing to stay relevant in the labor market would be well served to become aware of opportunities to get this upskilling and quickly, before the job market shrinks and creates a mass of available job seekers all looking for work at the same time.
This point about upskilling and re-skilling was driven home in an article by Lynda Gratton in the prestigious MIT Sloan Management Review drawn upon her takeaways from the most recent World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland.