No matter how you slice it, technology is a force that is set to disrupt the future of work and industries as a whole for years to come. The advancements being made by machine learning and Artificial Intelligence threaten to render certain jobs obsolete and even traditionally strong industries are beginning to buckle under this pressure.
There is nothing wrong with incumbent industries merging with technology, but the effects of this merger could have unforeseen byproducts. To attempt to overcome this unknown, it is productive to view the changes that technology has already had on various industries in an effort to predict future disruption.
New Job Openings
This change is perhaps the most interesting to watch. Jobs heavily based on technology are opening up quickly in fields that have absolutely nothing to do with technology as a whole. For example, HR companies are not a tech-based group, yet the need for more and more skilled web developers who can build websites is rising.
Now, how is technology affecting this change? It’s all about the Internet and computers. Sourcing for candidates is primarily done through LinkedIn and other online services. Therefore, recruiters are having to rely on technology more and more to do their job. Web developers are required to build companies’ websites but also manage their software in some cases.
This turns into an endless loop as more tech jobs emerge due to prior tech jobs. As web developers and software engineers create different software for businesses, those businesses need to hire cybersecurity experts to protect the data. In the end, even rigid industries will have to move their businesses online and hire tech employees who have experience with online services.
Machine Learning
This is the driving force behind automation. Machine learning is a growing aspect of Artificial Intelligence where technology can actually teach itself and learn from previous tasks. This isn’t just automation—it’s self-perfecting automation. One common field that machine learning is likely to uproot is finance.
Specifically speaking, financial analysts may be disrupted as machine learning is all about taking big amounts of data and analyzing it to make business decisions. Certain processes within the accounting field will also likely be disrupted by machine learning and humans just cannot compete with the speed and accuracy of machines. Technology isn’t all bad, however, and there will certainly be new jobs created at financial or accounting companies to replace those that are lost. With that said, these new jobs are likely to be based on software and focused on maintaining the Artificial Intelligence systems that now do the work.
Career paths such as becoming a Software Engineer are going to take off instead of traditional opportunities. The job market as a whole is going to be disrupted by machine learning and automation. People wouldn’t have believed in self-driving cars 15 years ago, but machine learning has helped this process along. Automation will forever change the way industries function.
Changing Traditional Skills
The required skills that students will be asked for upon graduation and the skills that employees will be expected to have are about to be completely disrupted by technology. Fast Company found that even five years ago there were seven million jobs available for people with coding skills. Keep in mind, this was before many even knew what exactly coding is.
In just half a decade, millions of jobs have been popping up for a skill that was relatively unknown. They are already beginning to make coding a part of the common curriculum for younger kids in school. Who knows what new skills are going to be required as technology continues to develop.
This will likely push older employees out of the workforce as they will be part of a work generation that uses obsolete skills. With that said, it is never too old to learn, and learning new skills on the fly will become another theme among employees.
Conclusion
Technology is changing every industry imaginable. Traditional industries are beginning to feel the effects of disruption and this change will spread to every level of each industry. It is important to remember that the world will not be taken over by technology. There is always going to be a need for people and our unique skills, but the day-to-day tasks we focus on are inevitably going to change. Preparing for that change by predicting the future of technological disruption is the best any of us can do.
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