Jobs in 100 Years?

About a year ago, I was asked what I thought the world would look like in 100 years. Truth be told, I can no longer remember the answer I gave, though I’m almost certain it involved flying cars and Star Trek-like teleporting pads. But the question has stayed in my mind ever since, and it is (in part) the topic today.

A study posted on Build the Enterprise in 2013 (find it here) examined job distribution from 1910 compared to now. Private household service workers, farmers, and laborers have all decreased dramatically, while jobs as managers, professional and technical workers, and sales workers have all increased. From our perspective in 2015, these changes might seem obvious. At Career Solutions Group, we often help people make career changes who are interested in these very fields, among others. We have the benefit of hindsight, of knowing the sweeping economic and social changes which changed the face of the globe in that ninety year span.

But someone living in 1910 wouldn’t have had this hindsight. I imagine, like many of us, they believed their world would go on in a similar way forever. They would have never predicted what our world looks like today, just as I doubt I can predict what the world will look like one hundred years from now. However, that isn’t going to stop me from trying.

The popular thought is that technology is going to develop so much that robots will take over most of the jobs. From what I can tell, these predictions are supported by many researchers, and some of the predictions seem quite dire. As technology becomes more advanced, and robots become self-aware (not in a Sky-Net, VIKI kind of way, I promise), robots will be able to take over jobs previously held by human workers.

This can be viewed as a problem, but it can also be seen as an opportunity. In a great TED talk entitled “What Will Future Jobs Look Like?” (video here), Andrew McAfee addresses this very question. He postulates that “In the world that we are creating very quickly, we’re going to see more and more things that look like science fiction and fewer and fewer things that look like jobs.” In his talk, he outlines many of the problems associated with increased mechanization, but he doesn’t see this as being economy destroying. Instead, he says, “I don’t believe for a second that we have forgotten how to solve tough challenges or that we have become too apathetic or hard-hearted to even try.”

In the impossible-to-imagine future, the job market will change dramatically, just as it has over the past 100 years. And just like in the past 100 years, the human species can face these changes and overcome them. Even now entrepreneurs, economists, and others are coming up with ideas on how to handle this new machine age. The world isn’t going to end as it advances; it is merely going to change, and we have to change with it.

Are you considering changing careers, or looking for new opportunities? If you are uncertain where to start, consider emailing us at info@careersolutionsgroup.net. We have proven methods to help you make career changes that will help you achieve the life you want to live.

By: Julia Pillard, Career Solutions Group