Ten jobs of the future - which are you skilling up for?

Many moons ago we saw all the agriculture jobs go followed by manufacturing jobs but now we seeing the stripping of managerial roles – specifically the wiping out of middle management functions. For example booking your flights online, or ordering your taxi through an app, both bypassing the requirement of middle management.

And because we are only really starting this trajectory, today’s hottest jobs will most probably be obsolete in five to seven years – think financial advisers and even doctors being replaced by AI. But as history has shown us, there is always a little lull and then we begin creating new jobs again for the new industries being created.

I read this great quote recently – ‘Computers are so stupid, all they can do is answer questions…’ This is imperative for us to remember we are still the ones with the EQ.

© Maridav – 123RF.com

This post is focused on what we should be focused on to stay skilled up for the near future.

So let’s get started:

The rise and rise of the freelancer

There are many predictions of how big this market will be and they all range from between 40% to 55% of the first world working population freelancing in the next 5 years.

The rise and rise of the freelancer coach and manager

In order for us to become one (wo)man operations, we need to set up our personal brand just like that of a company with methodologies, marketing plans, pull sales strategies etc.

The rise and rise of the team organiser

Organisations will start hiring specific skills sets as per project requirements and somebody needs to know who is out there, with the perfect skills to complement the team and outcomes set out.

Urban farmers

With a growing population and more light being shed on how our food is actually grown (apples being picked up to 11 months before we eat them – but that’s a whole other blog post) we will start seeing the rise of urban farmers for a better and healthier human and earth.

Longer life planners

Plenty of studies show that with the application of DNA sequencing and bioprinters, our age can be stretched to beyond 150 and that’s just what Google is saying now. In a few years, that can move up pretty dramatically. With this in mind, we will need a brand new way of looking at how to keep living productive lives after the existing retirement age of 65 – this group have been called the Amortals.

Senior caregiver

With this dramatically ageing population, we are going to need a lot more caregivers, although I have seen some reports of AI taking a lot of the remedial stuff out of a job like this – it’s still a hugely growing sector.

Remote health-care specialist

With the growth of wearable tech, much better sensors and big data we will be able to give remote doctors more information about our health than if they had to do the normal check-up – so look out for more Skype sessions with your doctors.

Virtual reality designer

Your 65-inch TV and PS4 are going to look like they’re from the Ice Age by the time 2025 comes around – virtual reality will be as normal as our mobile phones and the internet – so the skills to build better virtual reality landscapes and experiences will grow dramatically.

3D print designer

There has been a slow uptake in 3D printers but by 2025 that will all have changed and we will be printing whatever we need at home (if our machine is that sophisticated) or at the corner PostNet – and as this behaviour grows, we will need better and better blueprint designers of anything and everything – i.e. a mug, spoon and eventually your home.

Ambient intelligent technicians

The combination of IoT (internet of things), working from home and our need for hyper-convenience will spur on a whole new field of technicians that can bring these three pillars into our daily lives. For example, one of the jobs the technician might have to do is make sure the carpet you step onto in the morning after waking up is linked to the 3D printer in the kitchen that will print out your mineral tablet for the day, depending on the scan your carpet did of your level of nutrition requirements.

It’s your choice to be excited or scared of the future.

Better get tooled up and excited, because it’s coming at all of us at the same dizzying speed!