The data is overwhelming. The headlines are soul crushing. “We are into the worst recession since World War II.” “The economic impact of the Pandemic is ten times worse than the 2008 financial crisis.” “1.6 billion people risk losing their jobs due to the Pandemic.” These are workers in the so-called informal economy involving largely migrant workers, those in agriculture, the gig segment or the service industry. “The 14% fall in working hours is equivalent to 400 million full time jobs.”
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| The Austrian National Library on Unsplash |
One of the living pains of
the Pandemic that cries aloud to be eased. For those who have not been inflicted
health-wise. Nor who have lost a loved one; as Biden like to say, facing an
empty chair by the dining table. But to those who have lost their means of
sustenance, and an important source of self-worth, and meaning in life, the
hope of getting back together with minimal damage is worth exploring.
The Pandemic is but one of
the disruptive duo. The other, triggered by the march of progress is the extreme
automation of work that marks the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR
4.0). The World Economic Forum (WEF) reported that, as a result of massive
digitization technologies, 85 million jobs will be replaced or obsoleted. The
destruction of these jobs are expected to be completed by 2025.
I know you know the good news.
This scheme driven by robotization and the Internet of Things (IoT) has the
promise of creating 97 million jobs. There is a promise of joy in the big
picture. But, zooming in to the individual, the jobs taken and the jobs created
are not aligned for a one for one exchange.
This is a quote from the WEF
“The Future of Jobs” report:
"This year we find that while technology-driven job
creation is still expected to outpace job destruction over the next five years,
the economic contraction is reducing the rate of growth in the jobs of
tomorrow. There is a renewed urgency to take proactive measures to ease the
transition of workers into more sustainable job opportunities.”
"As the frontier between the work tasks performed by humans
and those performed by machines and algorithms shifts, we have a short window
of opportunity to ensure that these transformations lead to a new age of good
work, good jobs and improved quality of life for all. In the midst of the
pandemic recession, this window is closing fast."
The new order of jobs requires
skills you may not have. if the company wants to keep you, you will have to be
reskilled. A whopping 94 % of the businesses surveyed by the WEF require their
employees to pick up new skills. Your basic skill set may have to be upgraded
to support the new industrial revolution. The upskilling program is expected to
take three to six months and the reskilling may take from 6 months to a year.
There is a growing call for
companies to partner public institutions for better efficacy in the skills
turnaround to save massive displacement of workers. Amazon has taken the lead
to announce a program that will reskill 29 million workers for cloud computing
roles, the critical support for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the data
economy.
The report continues, “Jumping from a redundant job to one
in high demand is no easy challenge. The "jobs of tomorrow" will
require new skills; in fact, the vast majority of employers (94%) surveyed by
the WEF said that they expected employees to pick up new skills on the job.
” In the “Future of Jobs” report, the
jobs of the future will require skills with more brain power and stronger
emotional resilience than physical abilities. Critical thinking and analysis, and problem-solving
skills are the most valued by the business leaders surveyed. The standout soft
skills are self-management and working with people. These are not new skills
but they have leaped in the order of priorities. Technology use and development
and core literacies are not less important and have remained in the top eight
skills required. They are probably the entry level skills in the big data
driven world with the four precedent skills enabling sustained performance. The
notable is that brute strength had declined in value the most but is not
unimportant.
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| Source: WEF |
Routine data entry, numbers
crunching and information dispensing jobs will slide in demand and some shrink
to phase out. Others will still exist but step down in demand and, thus, value.
Not surprising to see HR specialists and TD (Training and Development)
specialists in the Top 20 decline list as with assembly and factory workers in
the top five declines. This is to be imagined with robots and automation taking
over the mass production and routine service jobs.
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| Museum Victoria on Unsplash |
The
Top 10 increasing in demand jobs cluster around the support for the AI and data
driven economy. Sandwiched at the number 6 spot is “Business
Development Professionals,” to support the monetization of new products and
technologies? Besides technology, the in-demand professions cater for enabling
organizational effectiveness and efficiency, and the expected pull for risk and
information security management. An interesting note is that the need for
construction laborers will decline. Is it with less construction from space
efficiency or are they being replaced by robots, new construction technologies
and 3D printing? This decline is symbolic of the shrinking value of “physical abilities”
in the skills requirement.
No 12 to 16 in the jobs
decline list is tell-tale sign for greater push for online transactions. Will Relationship
Managers be subbed with avatars and digital twins?
The good thing about the job
invasion by the IR 4.0 juggernaut is that there is still some distance to the
final displacement. 2025. That with the drive for reskilling and upskilling
initiatives allow you space to get ready. The real question is, “What are you
going to do with the information you have?” Are you going to get ready for the
inevitable.?
Are you going to conduct a
gap analysis of your skill inventory? Are you previewing the work environment
based on the information available and prime your mind-body for the challenges,
as an example asking, “Why is stress management important in the new workplace?”
Are you doing the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)
study? Are you preempting the interviews and crystalizing your USP (Unique
Selling Proposition)? What’s your elevator pitch of your value to the new
organization? “What’s the best approach in positioning your act?” “Why is
self-management a key skill in the future?” “Critical thinking, analysis and
complex problem solving; how will these skills play out in the new job
requirement?” “Where are the [free] courses available?” “If I do not like
technical work, is there a place for me?” “Besides going for the jobs, are
there business opportunities, from the information available?” “What are my
Plan Bs?”
The WEF report also reveals
the revered skills of tomorrow:
“In 2025, analytical thinking, creativity, and flexibility will be
among the most sought-after skills. Employers see critical thinking,
analysis, and problem solving as growing in importance in the coming years,
although these have consistently been cited in previous editions of the survey.
Newly emerging this year are skills in self-management, such as active
learning, resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility. The data available
through metrics partnerships with LinkedIn and Coursera allowed us to track
with unprecedented granularity the types of specialized skills needed for the
jobs of tomorrow.”
Self-management, active learning, resilience, stress tolerance,
and flexibility. These should get you interested in the challenges of the work
and the workplace of tomorrow.
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| Source: WEF |
There are some good pivot stories. Many people are turning to home
based businesses such as provision and food catering. Others hopped on their
bikes to make deliveries. There is even a story of a displaced pilot doing well
with a food stall, serving garbed fully in his pilot standard issue. Not only
that, it seems that airlines are into the food serving business. It is a common
sight now with people selling windshield wipers and jeans from the boot of their
cars; peddling even mangoes and local fruits. I read that Philip Knight, the founder of
the iconic Nike brand of things started this way. NHK, the Japanese TV channel
highlights success stories of people turning to farming.
What are you going to do? It is an
important question to challenge your mental faculty to work. If you have not found a paying
opportunity, offer to work for free or even just for food and lodging. There are
community opportunities such tutoring students or teaching in free pre-school
classes. The important thing is to go out during your ‘normal’ work hours to
work, finding opportunities to know new people, form new associations and let
the world know you exist and that you are looking for opportunities.
Get a small support group going. Share finds and news. Motivate
each other. Give and get advice. No one can monopolize thinking. Pick others’
brains. A small idea may get you going in a big way. Or it may lead to other
ideas. The important thing is to get involved in others and get others involved
in you. Keep thinking and keep searching for ideas and ways to help you think.
Think for yourself and think for others. Except for time immersed in meditation,
an idle [conscious] mind is the devil’s workshop.
Align with my advice to get advice from others, I present some good ideas I have picked from the web to anchor you in this period saving you from getting lost in transition.
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| Leigh Cooper on Unsplash |
These are ideas from Penelope
Trunk:
“Start a blog about the industry
you want to get into.
Blogging is a great way to keep up in your industry, network without looking
desperate, and leverage the fact that you have more time on your hands that
people who have jobs. Everyone who is unemployed should be blogging as a way to
get the next job. Put your ideas out into the world and connect with people
that way. This is why you want to be hired, right? For your ideas. So show
them. The reason that people who blog have great careers is that bloggers are
always thinking about issues in their industry. Show that side of yourself to
people. Blogging takes a lot of time, sure. But you have a lot of time…”
I like this idea. As you are evolving into a thought leader for
your industry, your research will also get you ready for any questions from the
interviews. This is also an opportunity to show potential employers deep
knowledge of the field. It is a platform to sell yourself.
“Practice talking about yourself
with everyone. High
performers practice for interviews. So now you know what you’re aiming for, but
you need to talk about it with everyone-parties, at the gym, on the phone with
friends. When they ask how you’re doing, talk about what you’re doing like you
are in the job interview. And the good news is that the better you get at
talking like that, the more you will actually believe your story, the story
that being unemployed is lucky because you have learning opportunities.”
This is as good as anything your doctor prescribed.
Financial Wolves write about a series of avoids.
Wiki How has some sensible advice.
Help Guide has written an extensive piece on
how to deal job loss and unemployment stress.
This Wall Street Journal
article teaches you what to do if you can’t find a job.
Bank Rate dispenses with 7 tips for finding
a new job during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Edge Markets teaches you financial planning
when you lose your job or have to take pay cut.
The Hundred Top 100 is a comprehensive compilation of jobs and employment information, interview strategy and questions, courses and courses providers, universities and colleges, top companies and hirers and anything to help you find a job.
The truth? Nobody has a silver bullet. The worst prognosis? The
employment situation is going to get much worse in 2021. But lives will be
saved with the aggressive vaccine roll out. That must be good.
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| narubono on Unsplash |
The idea is to get prepared while
in transition. Step up to help and to ask for help. I recognize different people are
experiencing hardship in varying degrees. Think how to create your own
employment for the time being. In different ways, we are all in this together.
Our common desire is to get out of this quickest. In good shape. In a good way.
Ready to make a difference. In the new world. Reflecting on lessons learned.
Better prepared. For any new challenge.
I wish for your safety and health. If
you like this post, please share it with your friends. It took me a lot of
pounding on the keyboard to piece this information, it will only take you a few
clicks to extend its reach. Thank you.